Two of the warship are already there, while two other warships are on their way."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has sent warships and aircrafts to assist in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto stated.

"Right now we have sent five warships, while the naval aircraft will follow later today," Djoko noted after attending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) meet between the National Police Commission and a number of universities and state commission institutes at the Police Academy here on Monday.

In addition to this, Indonesia will also send an Air Force plane and two National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) ships to help the search efforts, he explained.

"Two of the warship are already there, while two other warships are on their way," he added.

He pointed out that a maritime patrol is being prepared to assist in the search efforts.

The government sent the warships and aircraft in response to a request from the Malaysian authorities, he clarified.

"There has been joint exercise every year so we can perform our duties more easily," he explained.

The flight MH370 was carrying 227 passengers, including seven Indonesians on board, when it lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control early Saturday morning.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft, which left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 12.21 a.m., is believed to have gone missing in the South China Sea.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stated earlier that the search for the missing plane will be expanded to the area where it lost contact.

The Prime Minister added that the Malaysian government has deployed a total of 15 planes from the Malaysian Air Force to search for the missing Boeing 777-200.

The aircrafts include four Hercules C130 planes, a CN325 plane, four EC725 planes, a Beechcraft King Air plane, two bombardier planes and two Agusta helicopters.

Six ships owned by the Malaysian Navy and three ships owned by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) are also involved in the search operations.

(Reporting by Juwita Trisna Rahayu/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/B003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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