PHU QUOC, Vietnam, March 14 -- Vietnamese rescuers found nothing in their search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane on Friday, but will carry on with the operation on Saturday, said an official.

Vietnam on Friday dispatched four aircraft to hunt for flight MH370 in the two new search areas south off Vietnam, said Vietnam National Flight Control Deputy General Manager Duan Lu Gia at a press conference here Friday evening.

He said the country will continue to send four aircraft to search for the jet on Saturday, adding the eight ships now still scouring the waters will also continue to conduct the search operation.

According to the official, the Search Command Center in Phu Quoc island will no longer hold the regular daily news briefing from Saturday. However, press conference will be resumed if there is major breakthrough in the search and rescue work.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft suddenly vanished from radar screens early last Saturday while carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Among the passengers, 154 were Chinese. No trace of the plane has been found so far despite multinational efforts to hunt for it.

Intensifying its search efforts, Vietnam extended the hunt at sea to two new areas off the southern coast on Friday, with one covering an area of 4,500 square nautical miles and the other, only about 27 nautical miles away from the reported last known position of the flight, covering an area of 3,600 square nautical miles.