Dive #011ROV, on 31 May 2009, saw the "Nereus" piloted on a 27.8-hour underwater mission, with about ten hours transversing the "eastern" basin of the Challenger Deep -- from the south wall, northwest to the north wall -- streaming live video and data back to its mothership. A maximum depth of was registered at . The "" then relocated to the "western" basin, where a 19.3-hour underwater dive found a maximum depth of on dive #012ROV, and on dive #014ROV in the same area (11°19.59 N, 142°12.99 E) encountered a maximum depth of . The "Nereus" was successful in recovering both sediment and rock samples from the "eastern" and the "western" basins with its manipulator arm for further scientific analysis. The HROV’s final dive was about to the north of the Challenger Deep, in the backarc, where they dove at the TOTO Caldera (12°42.00 N, 143°31.5 E). Nereus thus became the first vehicle to reach the Mariana Trench since 1998 and the deepest-diving vehicle then in operation. Project manager and developer Andy Bowen heralded the achievement as "the start of a new era in ocean exploration". "Nereus", unlike "Kaikō", did not need to be powered or controlled by a cable connected to a ship on the ocean surface.