OSLO, March 20 -- A Norwegian ship has joined the search for the missing MH370 flight in the southern Indian Ocean, said the Norwegian Shipowners Association on Thursday.

In a press statement, the association the St. Petersburg ship changed her course to join the search as she was the closest ship to the area where large-size objects possibly from the Malaysian Airlines plane were reportedly found earlier in the day.

A spokesman for the association told Xinhua that any findings by the ship from the area will be reported directly to Australian authorities.

It is a large area covering 100 square kilometers and so it will take some time for the ship to be able to spot something, said the spokesman.

An unprecedented multinational search operation has been conducted since contact with the plane was lost in the early morning of March 8.

The plane was carrying 239 people including crew members when it went missing.