S-E Asia's Biodiversity, Leadership Draw Philanthropic Interest in Region's Oceans

The key role that Singapore played in brokering the High Seas Treaty made it fitting for an upcoming expedition involving Singapore researchers to be conducted in international waters, said founder and co-chief executive of non-profit OceanX Mark Dalio on June 13.

- Audrey Tan

NICE, France — The key role that Singapore played in brokering the High Seas Treaty made it fitting for an upcoming expedition involving Singapore researchers to be conducted in international waters, said founder and co-chief executive of non-profit OceanX Mark Dalio on June 13.

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had announced during the UN Ocean Conference on June 10 that researchers from the National University of Singapore, in collaboration with OceanX, will in October embark on a deep-sea biodiversity expedition to the high seas in the eastern Indian Ocean.

The high seas refer to areas outside any country's territorial waters. Singapore had in 2023 helped to broker an agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity outside national jurisdictions.

The Republic had helped countries reach an agreement on a legal framework for the protection of biodiversity in the high seas after almost 20 years of negotiations.

The research team will conduct the expedition aboard OceanX's scientific vessel OceanXplorer at the Christmas Island Seamount Province.

Asked how the site was chosen, Mr. Dalio told The Straits Times on the sidelines of the UN summit: "We were advised by NUS about their interest in those waters, and we see great value in better understanding the seamount, especially the deep waters in that part of the world."

OceanX — an ocean exploration initiative by Dalio Philanthropies — had in 2024 embarked on two other scientific expeditions in Southeast Asia, in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The research agendas are shaped in collaboration with researchers from host countries, said Mr. Dalio.

"We have a number of areas that we (OceanX) specialize in... studies that can help with fisheries, environmental DNA, biodiversity assessments," he said.