The Legend, a 2,600-ton research ship carrying Taiwanese scientists and engineers, slowly embarked on its maiden voyage over the Ryukyu Islands. Its mission is to deploy 35 wholly Taiwan-built Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) along the Ryukyu Trench in the seas of Japan. OBS serve as scientific instruments that go on the sea bottom to record and monitor seismic waves. Understanding seismic activity is key to constructing sound terrain models in predicting earthquakes and other tectonic patterns.