Hit By 3 Meter Waves, Two ASDP's Ships Were Forced To Return To Kupang

Doc. Residents play on the outskirts of Tedis beach when extreme weather hits Kupang City, NTT. ANTARA PHOTOS/Kornelis Kaha

KUPANG - Two units of Motorized Ferry Boats (KMP) owned by PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry Kupang Branch, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province was forced to return to Kupang when it was about to sail to Alor and Lembata due to being hit by high waves in NTT waters.

"It is true that there are ships with the Kupang-Lembata route that were forced to return because the waves were very high, reaching 2.5 to 3 meters," said the GM of PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry Kupang Branch Ardhi Ekapaty as reported by Antara, in Kupang, Tuesday, January 18.

He said the two KMPs are KMP Inerie II and KMP Cakalang II, each of which has a different destination or route.

KMP Inerie II was scheduled to leave for Lembata at 16.00 central Indonesia time, but in the middle of the road, it was forced to turn around because it was hit by a wave.

The same thing was experienced by KMP Cakalang II which was scheduled to depart at 14.00 central Indonesia time but due to bad weather was asked to return to the port of Bolok Kupang.

"This is for the safety of passengers. So we decided to return to Kupang," he added.

Previously, the Head of the Tenau-Kupang Maritime Meteorology Station, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Syaeful Hadi had appealed to passenger ships and fishing boats to be aware of high waves in around five water areas in East Nusa Tenggara.

The five territorial waters are the northern waters of Flores Island, the southern part of the Sawu Sea, the Flores-Lamakera Strait, the Alor-Pantar Strait, and the southern waters of Kupang-Rote.

"Waves with a height of 2.5-4 meters have the potential to hit several areas of the waters so there is a high risk for fishing boats and ferries," said Kupang, Wednesday, January 13.

He explained that the high wave conditions are expected to last from January 13-15, 2022.