US-based marine research initiative OceanX and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) have begun a deep-ocean expedition to investigate the Sulawesi seamount chain, one of the most remote and least understood areas of the Indo-Pacific.
The mission will run from December 2025 through January 2026. OceanX said it is designed to uncover how geological forces, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes interact beneath the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.
The expedition will begin in Bitung with public education activities and media engagement planned from December 3, 2025 to January 31, 2026.
OceanX said this 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," said Pieribone. "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."
OceanXplorer, the vessel to be used for expedition, has now deployed to the seamount region for two linked research legs.
The first leg will focus 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 AI platform will support rapid annotation of imagery to enable researchers to track species and habitats in near real time.