Chinese warships were heading for waters of the southern Indian Ocean on Friday where debris possibly linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was spotted.

Merchant ships and scientific research vessel Xuelong are expected to follow.

Four rescue ships are heading for the 18,000-square-km area southwest of the Sunda Strait as planned, while the previous search mission in the Bay of Bengal was now being conducted by India, He Jianzhong, director of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center, said.

Eight merchant ships searched for the missing flight in the Bay of Bengal and areas west of Indonesia and Australia on Friday, while 20 fishing boats covered waters in the central Indian Ocean.

China's largest rescue ship Haixun 01 was searching in waters near Christmas Island, armed with a helicopter and radar monitoring equipment. But no suspicious objects had been spotted as of 6 p.m. Friday.

The search for flight MH370 registered its 14th day on Friday after the plane went missing on its way to Beijing on March 8, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, including 154 Chinese.