The research aboard the research vessel R/V OceanXplorer was conducted in collaboration between OceanX and BRIN as part of the Deep Sea Research Collaboration Mission 2025 titled “Beneath the Ring: The Sulawesi Seamounts”. The mission invited all marine researchers in Indonesia to submit in-depth proposals into six research themes, namely (1) Biodiversity and Health of Deep Sea Ecosystems, (2) Drivers of Oceanography and Ecosystem Connectivity, (3) Genomic Mapping and Marine Biodiversity, (4) Underwater Geoscience and Geological Hazards, (5) Megafauna Dynamics and Food Chains, and (6) Ecosystem Services and Carbon Dynamics.

Among the participating researchers were three researchers from the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology: Alfend Rudyawan, Ph.D., Dr. Astyka Pamumpuni, and Gabriella Alodia, Ph.D. are members of the Geoscience Team, which will conduct its research in the First Phase, which will last 20 days and return to Bitung Port on December 21, 2025.

This joint research is expected to help close the knowledge gap regarding biodiversity, climate regulation, and geological hazards that remain largely unknown in Indonesia's deep-sea waters, in support of sustainable marine governance. This mission will focus on the underexplored underwater volcanic ecosystem in the Sulawesi Sea, which is also outside the Territorial Sea but still within Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone. This first expedition is expected to produce pioneering data that can later support the design of a National Marine Protected Area.

This mission will also train Indonesian researchers to work collaboratively on a large-capacity research vessel, as a first step toward igniting long-term and sustainable collaboration in marine research.