ASDP Kupang Temporarily Closes 3 Crossing Routes Due To Bad Weather

One ferry unit docked at the port of the deployment of Bolok Kupang. BETWEEN ANTARA/Aloysius Lewokeda

KUPANG - PT Angkutan Sungai Danau dan Pemberangan (ASDP) Indonesia Ferry Kupang Branch temporarily closed three crossing routes in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province due to bad weather in the province's sea area. "Three crossings are temporarily closed, namely Kupang-Rote Ndao, Kupang-Aimere-Wayapu and Kupang-Kalabahi," said PT ASDP (Persero) Indonesia Business Manager Ferry Kupang Branch Andri Matte in Kupang, Antara, Tuesday, January 23. He said this answered questions about the impact of bad weather on ferry crossing activities in NTT. The announcement of the temporary closure of a number of cruise track lines was also announced through ASDP Kupang social media. Andri Matte explained that the temporary closure of ferry crossing services for the three routes only applies on Tuesday, January 23. "The closure of the shipping for the Kupang-Rote route will be extended until tomorrow and we will reopen it on Thursday this week," he said. Meanwhile, the Kupang - Kalabahi and Kupang - Lewoleba - Adonara - Larantuka round-trip (PP) shipping routes on Wednesday will still be served. He added that his party will continue to monitor weather developments from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to determine shipping activities. BMKG Meteorological Station on Monday (22/1) has issued an early warning regarding high waves that occurred in NTT. The potential for sea waves with a wave height of 1.25 to 2.5 meters is likely to occur in the waters north of Flores, Sape Strait, Sumba Strait, North Sawu Sea, Flores-Lamakera Strait, Alor-Pantar Strait, Ombai Strait, northern Selata Kupang-Rote and Wetar Strait. In addition, waves with a height of 2.5 to 3.5 meters are likely to occur in the Southern Sawu Sea, South Indies Ocean Sumba-Sabu, South Kupang-Rote Waters and South 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.