Two ships were sent on Sunday to the area where a Chinese vessel had picked up pulse signals consistent with a black box beacon in search of missing flight MH370, Australian chief search coordinator said.

"HMS Echo and Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield are also being directed to join Haixun 01 as expeditiously as possible to assist with either discounting or confirming the detecting," Angus Houston, head of the Joint Agency Coordination Center, said at a press conference.