The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 could take years, a U.S. Naval Officer suggested on Sunday, as search and rescue officials raced to locate the plane's black box recorder days before its batteries are set to die.

Ten ships and as many aircraft are searching a massive area in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, trying to find some trace of the aircraft, which went missing more than three weeks ago and is presumed to have crashed.

The chief of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center, He Jianzhong, told the official Xinhua News Agency that the international effort had not found any objects linked to the plane on Sunday, and that Chinese vessels would expand their search area.