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.

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