The mission will run from December through January and is designed to uncover how geological forces, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes interact beneath the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The expedition begins in Bitung with public education activities and media engagement planned from 3 December 2025 to 31 January 2026 builds directly on the findings of the 2024 OceanX – BRIN collaboration, where scientists mapped five previously unknown seamounts north of Sulawesi. This new mission returns with a larger scientific team, expanded research objectives, and advanced tools to create Indonesia's most complete deep-sea dataset to date.
Vincent Pieribone, Co-CEO and Chief Scientist at OceanX, said the mission opens a window into a part of Indonesia's ocean that has remained almost entirely undocumented. "Seamounts can shape currents, host rare species, and act as stepping-stones for life across the deep ocean. Very few of the hundreds in Indonesia's waters have been explored. Working with BRIN to study these systems will give us an entirely new perspective on how Indonesia's deep ocean supports its wider marine environment."
Investigating a Living Geological System
The mission started in Bitung with education activities for students and local government officers, including a vessel tour. The vessel has now deployed to the seamount region for two linked research legs.
The first leg focuses on geological and hydrothermal features. Scientists will use high-resolution mapping, visual surveys, and sub-bottom profiling to document volcanic structures and tectonic formations that shape the deep-sea environment.
The second leg will study the biodiversity and ecological dynamics of the seamount chain. ROVs, submersibles, environmental DNA sampling, and oceanographic instruments will document species distribution, connectivity, and ecosystem structure. OceanX's SeaSwipe AI platform will support rapid annotation of imagery, enabling researchers to track species and habitats in near real time.
Strengthening Indonesia's Long-Term Ocean Knowledge
Chairman of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Arif Satria, emphasized the importance of this expedition for Indonesia's marine science sovereignty. "As an archipelagic nation and a center of global biodiversity, Indonesia must take the lead in marine science across the region. This joint expedition with OceanX not only enriches our scientific knowledge but also strengthens the nation's capacity to map, understand, and independently manage the deep sea. This is a crucial foundation for Indonesia's blue economy transformation," he said.
Capacity building is a core pillar of the mission. Early-career researchers and technicians from BRIN and partner universities will join the expedition for hands-on training across mapping, sampling, genomics, and data processing. This aligns with Indonesia's national research roadmap and supports the objectives of Project Krisna and I ndonesia's Blue Economy Development. Project Krisna, or Kapal Riset Nasional, is a project to strengthen Indonesia marine scientific research by building research vessels funded by AFD France.
This mission is also supported by Bappenas, which emphasizes marine research and capacity building as an important pillar of Indonesia's blue economy program, enabling evidence-based governance and the development of new sustainable ocean-based sectors. This momentum can be leveraged to advance ocean literacy among policymakers, practitioners, and students, and to bring ocean findings and knowledge into policy discussions and formulation to support stronger future ocean governance for Indonesia.
The scientific datasets generated during the mission can contribute to marine spatial planning, hazard assessment, and the development of biodiversity baselines for northern Sulawesi. These outputs offer evidence that can support future research, national assessments, and long-term planning efforts as determined by Indonesian authorities.
With a mission that integrates scientific exploration, capacity building, and large-scale data integration, OceanX and BRIN are confident that this deep-sea expedition will become an important milestone for Indonesia's marine science, advancing understanding of the deep ocean while strengthening the country's future marine governance.
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