Port Administrators Urged To Monitor Extreme Weather

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Transportation Ministry has urged port administrators to observe the changes in weather conditions following the meteorology agency's forecast of extreme weather, which could trigger up to six-meter-high waves at the end of January.

 "In an effort to prevent the recurrence of ship mishaps, particularly in the current bad weather, all port administrators should continue to monitor the developments in weather conditions based on the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency's (BMKG's) forecast," Bobby R. Mamahit, the director general of sea communications, stated here on Wednesday.

He suggested that data on the weather conditions should be disseminated to shipping service users as well as the authorities managing terminals and embarkation and debarkation points.

The director general also called on harbormasters to postpone the issuance of sailing permits (SPB) if the weather conditions pose a threat to ships at sea. The SPB should be issued carefully or be delayed until the conditions are deemed safe.

He also urged ship operators to continue to monitor the weather conditions and report them to the port officers at least six hours before applying for SPB.

They are also asked to monitor the weather conditions at sea and report the information to the nearest operators of the coastal radio station (SROP) for inclusion into the log book.

The BMKG had earlier forecast that extreme weather would hit certain marine areas in Indonesia and could trigger waves of up to six meters in height at the end of January, according to a meteorology official.

"The extreme weather is forecast on January 25-29. During this period, the height of waves could reach up to six meters. This could endanger shipping activities, so stakeholders of the shipping industry should take anticipatory steps," Yunus Subagyo of the BMKG stated. (WDY)