stepwilk, the search had three phases. The first was the attempt to locate the black boxes using the pingers to find them. That phase ended after the expected 30 day battery life of the pingers expired (actually I think they searched a short period beyond the 30 day life).
The second phase, now completed, was to survey the sea floor using side- scan sonar in the hope of detecting larger sections of the wreckage. If the sonar had detected such, then a submersible would photograph the area. This survey failed to detect any wreckage.
The third phase was originally to conduct submersible operations to photograph and potentially retrieve parts of the wreckage, most specifically, the black boxes if these were located.
With phases one and two yielding nothing, the original purpose for phase three is annulled. The BEA will now assess what steps might be feasibly taken to locate the wreckage on the sea floor. Any further survey effort will likely cover much of the area previously surveyed in phase two. In effect, phase three now becomes yet another search.