BEIJING, Sept. 20 -- One of China's remotely operated underwater vehicles, the Haima (Seahorse), has recently completed a series of tasks at a depth of almost 2,000 meters in the western Pacific Ocean, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources Friday.

The deep-sea vehicle was carried by the research vessel Haiyang 6 (Ocean No. 6) during its 55th scientific expedition.

The Haima dived to depths of 2,000 meters and took four samples of cobalt-rich crust weighing 7 kg by using an underwater robotic arm on Sept. 14. It also conducted deep-sea observation, high-definition image acquisition and acoustic detection, the ministry said.

This is the first time the Haima dived on the voyage. It will make six more dives in the next few days for drilling, sampling and biodiversity surveys.

The vessel has a team of 58 members from domestic institutions, including Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Zhejiang University. It will finish the 40-day expedition in late October.