Malaysia will send a team to the Maldives to determine whether debris reportedly found there is further wreckage from Flight MH370, the transport minister said.
Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia had been "officially notified" by authorities in the Maldives of objects found there, whose origin remains unverified.
"We will be dispatching a team to the Maldives to view the debris as well as conduct preliminary verification of the debris. At this stage, it is highly premature to speculate on whether this debris is in any way connected to MH370."
But it is being suggested that the Maldives' debris is most likely from a barge that capsized in February.
The materials were on their way to a new resort in Raa Atoll when the vessel capsized on February 10.
"From the pictures of the debris found on most of the islands, I can almost certainly say that they are from the cargo we were carrying," he said.
Maldivian police said they received reports of several sightings of items washed up along the northern atolls of the archipelago, some of which occurred about a month ago.
There is new attention on seaborne debris in the Indian Ocean after Malaysia last week said a wing part that washed ashore on the French island of Reunion came from the ill-fated plane.
That marked the first confirmed evidence that the jet, which was carrying 239 passengers and crew, met a tragic end in the Indian Ocean in March 2014.
After that discovery, the Malaysian authorities alerted nearby Madagascar and the South African coast to be on the lookout, saying it was possible debris would wash up in those locations.
Mauritius has also joined the search.