Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 "ended" in the southern Indian Ocean.

The announcement was made in a televised press conference at 10 pm local time on Monday after Malaysian authorities received information from British satellite maker Inmarsat, which used a new type of analysis to determine the plane's last known location.

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Razak said the analysis used by Inmarsat was something that has never been used before. It concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor and ended up in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

"With deep sadness and regret I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean," said the Prime Minister.

Families of the passengers were briefed on the new findings ahead of the televised announcement by the Malaysian Prime Minister.

France had announced Sunday that its satellite sighted wooden pallets which were similar to those used in plane and ship cargo.

Australia and China also announced similar sightings of clusters of floating objects around the same area of the Indian Ocean.

Australia's Maritime Safety Authority said the crew of its P-3 Orion search jet spotted an orange rectangular object and a grey circular object.

The floating objects were sighted about 2,500 kilometers southwest of Perth around 3pm Australian time on Monday.

China's Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft likewise spotted two "relatively big" floating objects and several smaller white ones dispersed over several kilometers, according to state media Xinhua.

Ships positioned near the search area were trying to recover the objects on Monday night.

In Beijing, security officers, medical personnel and ambulances were on standby to assist relatives of passengers of the ill-fated plane, after they were gathered by Malaysian authorities for a briefing on the new findings.

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean. New analysis of satellite data suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean," read an email sent to the relatives just before the Prime Minister went live on a televised news conference.

"On behalf of all of us at Malaysia Airlines and all Malaysians, our prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues at this enormously painful time. We know there are no words that we or anyone else can say which can ease your pain. We will continue to provide assistance and support to you, as we have done since MH370 first disappeared in the early hours of 8 March, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing," the message said to the grieving relatives.

The Boeing-777 aircraft vanished from radar screens in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, half of them Chinese nationals.