PERTH, Australia — Ships rushed to the location of floating objects spotted today by Australian and Chinese planes in the southern Indian Ocean close to where multiple satellites have detected possible remains of the lost Malaysian airliner.

One ship was carrying equipment to detect the plane’s vital black box, but it remained uncertain whether the vessels were approaching a successful end to the search or another frustrating dead end.

“They could be flotsam,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in Canberra. “Nevertheless we are hopeful that we can recover these objects soon and that they will take us a step closer to resolving this tragic mystery.”

In one of two new sightings, Abbott said the crew on board an Australian P3 Orion had located two objects in the search zone — the first gray or green and circular, the second orange and rectangular.

An Australian navy supply ship, the HMAS Success, was heading to the area to get a closer look, and Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the vessel could reach them tonight or Tuesday morning.

Separately, the crew aboard one of two Chinese IL-76 aircraft observed two large objects and several smaller ones spread across several miles.