HANOI, March 8 -- Vietnam already has sent aircraft and marine rescue vessels to search for the missing Malaysian plane, Pham Hien, director of Vietnam's Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) Zone 3, told Xinhua on Saturday afternoon.

The MRCC Zone 3, based in southern Vung Tau city, has deployed a specialized rescue ship SAR 413 to the waters off Vietnam where the plane was feared to have crashed to help search for the plane, Hien told Xinhua on phone.

Meanwhile, one AN 26 aircraft has left the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in southern Ho Chi Minh city to join the search and rescue work, Vietnamese state-run news agency quoted the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense as saying.

Helicopters and marine police vessels are also ready to join the work as soon as the plane is located.

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200 with 239 passengers aboard, took off from Kuala Lumpur at 00:41 a.m. local time Saturday and was due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. The aircraft reportedly lost contact at around 2:40 a.m. over the waters between Vietnam and Malaysia.