Singapore will be sending a submarine support-and-rescue vessel to help search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Saturday night.

"We have this vessel which is equipped to perform underwater searches and can assist in these search-and-locate operations, and it also has divers on the vessel," he said.

Dr Ng said he had spoken to Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein about the submarine vessel, and the Singaporean and Malaysian navy chiefs will work out details on its deployment.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force had earlier sent a C130 Hercules - a transport aircraft with search-and-locate functions - to help in the search. It took off at noon on Saturday, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.