The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) this evening reported no sightings of the MH370 aircraft despite Singaporean authorities spotting suspicious objects floating 100km south-southwest of Vietnam's Tho Chu island.

"Yes, they have found debris but it did not come from the aircraft," DCA Director-General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told the Press in Kuala Lumpur.

He also confirmed that Vietnamese rescue planes have spotted two oil slicks off its coast but the authorities are verifying if the oil came from the MH370 aircraft.

Search and rescue area widens

Search and rescue operations have also been widened to a radius of 50 from 20 nautical miles, covering the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca.

34 aircrafts and 40 ships have been deployed to intensify the search.

"The air search started from 7am and stopped at 7pm. However, the ships will continue the search at night," he said.

Eight countries have joined Malaysia in the search and rescue operations including Vietnam, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, the United States and Australia.

"Australia will be sending two aircrafts – the first one will be arriving at midnight and the second one tomorrow morning," Army Forces Chief Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin told reporters.

"Thailand will be sending an offshore petrol vessel with two aircrafts and one helicopter. Indonesia has already deployed a maritime patrol aircraft and five vessels. The Americans have already one aircraft in operations at the Straits of Malacca.’

Zulkilfi also said that no submarines from other countries are deployed into Malaysia.

"There is no submarine coming to Malaysia from any country. Some of our friends are sending submarine escape and rescue vessels. Some of them are sending rescue ships. Even the Royal Malaysian Navy is deploying its submarine escape and rescue vessels," he said.

‘Investigation on stolen passports ongoing’

When asked about the possibility that flight MH370 could have been ‘hijacked’, Azharuddin said the authorities are not ruling out any possibilities but reiterated its main focus now was to find the missing aircraft.

"Finding the aircraft will definitely help us establish what exactly happened,’ he said adding that authorities are in the midst of investigating claims that two passengers on the plane had used ‘stolen passports’.