An investigation of sea state conditions at the time of ship accidents in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigate the sea state conditions during the two cases of ship accidents that have recently occurred in the Indonesian ocean. The first accident case occurred in the middle part of Indonesia at the end of May 2022 resulted in fatalities. Similarly, another incident was in the eastern part of Indonesia in the middle of July 2022, killing 12 people. For both cases, we observed the maximum wave height, significant wave height, and wind speed during the respective accident periods. The observations were carried out using the global ocean wave model, WAVEWATCH III, in conjunction with Altimeters and ASCAT scatterometers. Specifically, the study employed data from Cryosat-2, Jason-3, Saral, Sentinel-3B, Sentinel-6A, Metop-B and Metop-C. The resultant satellite observations are consistent with the model, meaning that the wave heights at the time of the accident were very high. The first case clearly shows that strong wind and high waves most likely triggered the accident. As a result, all stakeholders who run their ocean transport business must consider the warning from the related agency, which is, in this case meteorological, climatological, and geophysical agency. Such proactive measures have the potential to mitigate marine accidents stemming from adverse weather conditions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nirwan Ilyas

Nirwan Ilyas is a lecturer and the head of the computational laboratory at the Department of Statistics, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and his PhD in statistics from the university. Additionally, he obtained his master's degree from Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia.

Andri Ramdhani

Andri Ramdhani serves as a researcher and Director of the Center for Public Weather Services at the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG) in Indonesia. He earned his Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Ocean Science from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia. Prior to that, he completed his master's degree in physical marine science at the University of Indonesia. He is a key figure in the establishment of the BMKG Ocean Forecast System (BMKG-OFS) and represents Indonesia in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as the National Marine Services Focal Point. He is also a member of the WMO Expert Team on Coastal and Emergency Responses.

Amiruddin

Amiruddin is a lecturer at the Department of Geophysics, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia. He earned his bachelor's degree in physics, master's degree in Oceanography from Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia, and PhD from Kyoto University, Japan. He is actively involved in environmental management, monitoring, and Environmental Impact Assessment. He has authored more than 10 journal articles and conference papers in his field.

Agustinus Ribal

Agustinus Ribal is a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia. He obtained his bachelor's degree in mathematics and a master's degree from Curtin University, Australia. Additionally, he holds a PhD in mathematics applied to ocean engineering from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. With over 30 journal articles and conference papers published in his field, he has established himself as a prolific researcher.