The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane will be entering a new phase that will use private contractors and may cost about $ 60 million , Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday . `` I regret to say that thus far none of our efforts in the air , on the surface or under sea , have found any wreckage , '' he said . The new phase will focus on searching the ocean floor over a much larger area -- 60,000 square kilometers , a process that will take about six to eight months . `` We do not want this crippling cloud of uncertainty to hang over this family and the wider traveling public , '' he said . It is `` highly unlikely '' that any debris will be found on the ocean surface , Abbott said . By this time , most of the debris will have become waterlogged and will have submerged , he said . As such , authorities will be suspending aerial searches . Words of praise . Malaysia 's government has been widely criticized over its handling of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and disclosures of its investigations . But on Sunday , U.S. President Barack Obama had words of praise during a visit to the southeast Asian country . He said the Malaysian government has been `` forthcoming '' with the United States about the information it has . `` The Malaysian government is working tirelessly to recover the aircraft and investigate exactly what happened , '' Obama told reporters . He reiterated that the United States would continue to aid in the search and offered condolences to loved ones of those lost . Narrowed search nears end . Obama 's visit came as the initial search by the Bluefin-21 neared its end . The submersible , which is on contract to the U.S. Navy , had been scouring the ocean floor for traces of the plane . Previously , another device , a towed pinger locator , detected signals that officials believed were from the jet 's flight recorders , which determined the current search area for the Bluefin . The plane disappeared on March 8 after leaving Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , for Beijing . Preliminary report . Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said a preliminary report on the plane 's disappearance will be available to the public next week . He also asked an internal investigation team to look into what other information may be released publicly next week , his office said . The report has been sent to the International Civil Aviation Organization , the U.N. body for global aviation , but not yet made available to the public . The U.N. organization said among the safety recommendations in the report is a suggestion by Malaysia that the aviation world needs to look at real-time tracking of commercial aircraft . It 's the same recommendation that was made after Air France Flight 447 went down in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 . `` Anytime there is a tragedy like this , we ought to also reflect on what can be done going forward to prevent something similar from happening again , '' Obama said . `` That discussion has begun in Malaysia and around the world , and we 'll see what improvements might be recommended to continue improving aviation security . One thing is already clear , however , is that large international efforts like this search operation benefit from existing partnerships among nations . '' Why did n't emergency beacon work ?
New phase will take about six to eight months . Authorities will be suspending aerial searches . Bluefin-21 starts its 15th mission to search for missing plane 's remains . Sunday air and sea search suspended because of weather .