The Brazilian Navy announced on Tuesday that it sent another two ships to take part in the search for the Air France Flight 447, raising to five the total number of navy vessels involved in the search mission.

The decision was taken after the Brazilian Air Force announced, earlier in the morning, that the search teams managed to spot metallic and non-metallic debris which are likely to be parts of the missing Airbus.

According to the Air Force, the debris was found 650 kilometers northeast of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha archipelago, near the Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo Islands.

Among the items there are a plane seat and an orange flotation device; vestiges of oil and kerosene were spotted as well. Despite that, the Brazilian authorities stated that they cannot confirm whether the items belong to the missing plane, as no registry numbers which can be connected to the Airbus were visible.

According to the Air Force, the items were spotted at two points, 60 kilometers away from each other.

The Brazilian authorities stressed that the debris have not been collected, as none of the Navy ships involved in the search efforts reached the area in which the items were spotted.

According to the Navy, the ship closer to the area is a French mercantile vessel which may help collecting the debris. Other three mercantile ships are involved in the searches.

The Air France Flight 447 left Rio on Sunday evening, with 228 occupants, and was headed to Paris. It disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean, after passing by the Fernando de Noronha archipelago.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)