SYDNEY, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- It's been almost five months since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean without a trace. Evidence of the jetliner itself or the 239 passengers and crew on board has yet to be found, but the search continues as the Australian government announced this week it has hired Dutch firm Fugro NV to continue looking for the missing Boeing 777.
Beginning in September, the engineering firm will begin scouring a 23-square-mile expanse of the ocean floor off the southwest corner of the Australian coast. Fugro won a competitive bidding process to secure the $48.4 million contract, beating out companies more experienced in search missions for underwater wreckage, Odyssey Marine Explorations Inc. and Blue Water Recoveries, as well as Houston-based oil and gas services firm Oceaneering International Inc.