Bad Weather, Sea Crossing Transportation In Kupang Closes

High wave illustration (ANTARA)

KUPANG - PT Transport Sungai Danau and Ferry Ferry Kupang Branch temporarily closed shipping services on three crossings in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province due to bad weather in the sea area of the local province.

"Three crossings are temporarily closed, namely Kupang - Rote Ndao, Kupang-Aimere-Wayapu and Kupang-Larantuka," said PT ASDP (Persero) Indonesia Business Manager Ferry Kupang Branch Andri Matte, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, July 13.

He said this answered questions about the impact of bad weather on ferry ferry activities in NTT.

Andri Matte explained that the temporary closure of ferry crossing services for the three routes only applies on Thursday (13/7).

"Only today. Starting Friday, (14/7) tomorrow, the crossing will return to normal as usual," he said.

He added that his party will continue to monitor weather developments from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to determine shipping activities.

Previously, BMKG appealed to residents to be aware of waves as high as 4 meters with the opportunity to hit five points in the sea area of NTT.

"The potential of sea waves of 2.5-4 meters should be watched out for because of the high risk of shipping ferries," said Acting Head of the Maritime Meteorological Station Tenau Kupang BMKG Agung Sudiono Abadi.

He mentioned five points of the sea area that are likely to be hit by waves up to 4 meters, namely the western Sumba Strait, the Sawu Sea, the southern Indian Ocean Sumba-Sabu, the southern waters of Kupang-Rote, and the southern Indian Ocean Kupang-Rote.

The potential for high-category waves, he said, needs to be watched out for by ship operators because of the high risk of shipping ferries that have crossing routes in these marine areas.