REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- The Chinese government has sent a frigate class ship to assist in the search of the fuselage of Air Asia QZ8501 jet that reportedly went missing on Sunday morning (Dec. 28).

"After coordinating and obtaining permission from the Indonesian government, the Chinese government has decided to send a ship and an aircraft to assist in the search effort," according to the official statement by the Chinese Defense Ministry received by Antara here on Monday evening.

The Chinese Defense Ministry stated that a battleship patrolling the waters of the South East China Sea is on its way to the Indonesian waters, which are believed to be the location of the missing QZ8501 aircraft.

In the meantime, a Chinese aircraft is on standby, awaiting further coordination from the Indonesian flight authority.

The National Search and Rescue Agency has decided to broaden the search area on Tuesday to 13 zones, whereas on Monday, the search was only confined to 7 zones, and on Sunday, only 4 zones were searched.

Countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Australia, France, Canada, South Korea, and India have also offered assistance for the ongoing search and rescue operations.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi noted on Monday that Indonesia and its friendly countries were jointly searching for the missing QZ8501 flight.

According to Retno, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and South Korea have agreed to assist in the search operations.

The Air Asia flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200 with registration number PK-AXC, was piloted by Captain Iriyanto who had clocked 20.5 thousand flying hours.

The plane had disappeared with 155 passengers on board, including six foreigners and seven crew members, including a French citizen.

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