How BRIN Simulates Paths of Journalists Missing Near Anak Krakatau
BRIN's team of researchers has created a simulation of the ocean currents that could have carried the journalists who lost contact near Anak Krakatau.
Researchers at the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center of BRIN have developed an animated simulation of ocean currents in the Sunda Strait to determine the potential path of three journalists and their three crew members who went missing on September 7, 2026, while en route to Mount Anak Krakatau. According to the researchers, the missing individuals are believed to have been carried by currents towards the west of Sumatra.
The team used two scenarios for the location where contact with the crew was lost, around 29.9 kilometers or approximately 16 nautical miles apart. The first scenario, located at 6°14 40.52 South Latitude and 105°40 49.48 East Longitude, suggests that the victims were carried westward across waters south of Mount Anak Krakatau and eventually to the waters east of Enggano Island by September 14.
The second scenario, located at 6°00 02.70 South Latitude and 105°34 00.87 East Longitude, indicates that the victims were carried northward across waters north of Anak Krakatau in Tanjung Belimbing, Lampung, and into the waters between Enggano Island and the west coast of Bengkulu by days 11-14.
The simulation was created using the Euler-Lagrangian method and relied on data from the Copernicus Marine Service's global model, which includes information on surface currents, tides, and wave dynamics. The researchers also used inverse approaches to estimate wind speed based on wave dynamics. They placed 2,000 particles in the Sunda Strait waters and estimated the weight per person to be between 60-70 kilograms.
The difference between the two initial points is expected to provide a wider range of possibilities for the search target locations.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
