China's largest patrol vessel in the South China Sea, the Haixun 31 is now on the way to the site to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

"The overall sea condition is good for voyage. Haixun 31 departed from Sanya on Sunday afternoon. It's going at full throttle with 20 nautical miles per hour. The distance between Sanya port and the target site is about 900 nautical miles. It will take 50 hours to arrive the site.

The vessel is expected to arrive at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. After received the order from China Maritime Search and Rescue Center, Haixun 31 assembled in Sanya, carrying 6 rescue specialized personnel and 3 facilities. One of the facilities is used for searching "black box".

A maritime helicopter was also assembled by Guangdong Maritime Bureau. The helicopter with cruise 300 kilometers radius. China's maritime authority has announced the search area, which is about 14,000 square kilometers in size near the Gulf of Thailand.

The Haixun 31 will act as the commanding ship for organizing rescue and search efforts.