High waves have the opportunity to visit Indonesian waters

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) appealed to residents who live and do activities in coastal areas to be wary of waves as high as one to six meters that have the opportunity to visit Indonesian waters from 14 to 15 December 2022.

Head of the BMKG Maritime Meteorology Center, Eko Prasetyo in Jakarta, Wednesday, explained that the appearance of high waves was triggered by wind patterns.

According to him, the dominant winds move from northeast to east with speeds of 8 to 30 knots in northern Indonesia and predominantly from southeast to southwest with speeds of 4 to 25 knots in southern Indonesia.

He said the highest wind speeds were observed in the Malacca Strait, waters north of Sabang, waters west of Aceh, and the North Natuna Sea.

According to him, this wind pattern increases the chances of high waves appearing in a number of Indonesian waters.

Waves as high as 1.25 to 2.5 meters are likely to appear in the Malacca Strait, western waters of Aceh, eastern waters of Simueulue Island-Nias Islands, Bengkulu-Enggano Island waters, western waters of Lampung, southern part of Lampung Bay, west-south of the Sunda Strait, the southern waters of Java Island-Sumba Island, Bali Strait, Lombok, southern Alas, southern Sape Strait, and western Sumba Strait.

Southern waters of Sawu Island, southern part of Sawu Sea, South Indian Ocean Banten-East Nusa Tenggara, waters of the Sangihe Islands-Talaud Islands, Bitung waters-Sitaro Islands, northern Maluku Sea, northern and eastern waters of the Halmahera Islands, Halmahera Sea, northern waters of Papua West-Papua, Biak Island waters, and the North Pacific Ocean Halmahera-Papua also have the opportunity to face waves as high as 1.25 to 2.5 meters.

Waves as high as 2.5 to four meters are likely to occur in the northern waters of Sabang, the western waters of Simeulue Island-Mentawai Islands, the western Indian Ocean of the Nias-Lampung Islands, and the waters of the Anambas Islands-Natuna Islands.

Meanwhile, the North Natuna Sea is likely to encounter waves as high as four to six meters.

"The potential for high waves in these areas could pose a risk to shipping safety," said Eko Prasetyo.

He appealed to fishing boat users to be aware of winds with speeds of more than 15 knots and waves with a height of more than 1.25 meters and barge operators to be aware of winds with speeds of more than 16 knots and waves as high as more than 1.5 meters.

Meanwhile, ferry operators are asked to be wary of winds with speeds of more than 21 knots and wave heights above 2.5 meters, and large vessels such as cargo ships/cruises are asked to be wary of winds with speeds of more than 27 knots and waves as high as more than four meters.