Update | Oil slick spotted by rescuers ‘not from missing Malaysia Airlines flight’, tests reveal

An oil slick spotted on Sunday by the Vietnamese air force did not come from the burst tanks of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, tests revealed on Monday night.

As yet another sighting of suspected crash debris proved to be a false lead, rescuers remained in the dark as to the fate of the passenger jet and the 239 people on board, which has been missing for almost three days.

Faidah Shuib, spokeswoman for the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency, said tests had shown that the slick spotted had come from a ship.

"The chemical department has confirmed this evening the oil found in Malaysian waters yesterday is bunker oil, and is not used by any aircraft."

The slick, from which the samples were collected, was about 185 kilometres north off Malaysia’s east coast state of Kelantan and just south of the point where air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing

Over the last 24 hours search teams have ruled out a number of objects seen floating in the water.