Ship dispatched to rescue 1,500 tourists stranded on island near Ha Long Bay



VIETNAM: -- A naval ship was dispatched to Co To Island, off the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh, on Thursday morning to bring around 1,500 stranded tourists back to shore, Tuoi Tre News reported, citing a local official.

The vessel was expected to reach Co To, which is a district administered by Quang Ninh, in the afternoon and will make about five to four such journeys to rescue all of the tourists, who have been stuck there since last weekend, district chairman Hoang Ba Nam said.

Co To, a popular attraction in the province home to the famed Ha Long Bay, was lashed by the heaviest rainfall in 40 years last weekend, and vacationers were thus unable to return to shore as all boat operations were suspended.

Do Van Hung, deputy head of Naval Brigade 170, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday said the ship has a load capacity of 450 metric tons and is capable of carrying 300 to 500 people at a time, depending on weather and sea conditions.

It takes the ship around five hours to sail to the island and return ashore.

Prolonged downpours have led to flooding which has killed 17 people and left six others missing in Quang Ninh, around 180km east of Hanoi, according to local authorities.

Heavy rains will keep battering Quang Ninh and other northern provinces until next Tuesday, possibly together with flash floods and landslides, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned on Thursday.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/ship-dispatched-to-rescue-1500-tourists-stranded-on-island-near-ha-long-bay


-- Thai PBS 2015-07-31

How tragic! Such a beautiful area.

"capable of carrying 300 to 500 people at a time, depending on weather and sea conditions"

In a nutshell shouldn't ships the world over have a maximum capacity...No matter what the weather??? Weather and therefore sea conditions can change n an instant, you would think the deputy head of the naval brigade might know this??? but the again this is South east asia :-(

"capable of carrying 300 to 500 people at a time, depending on weather and sea conditions"

In a nutshell shouldn't ships the world over have a maximum capacity...No matter what the weather??? Weather and therefore sea conditions can change n an instant, you would think the deputy head of the naval brigade might know this??? but the again this is South east asia :-(

The weather conditions determine whether they can carry passengers on deck as well as within the superstructure of the ship. I hope that explains it for you.

HaLong Bay is a must-see on everyone's bucket list. Well worth the 3-hour drive from HaNoi

in a mini van. I have nothing but praise for my HaNoi Tour company...the minivan driver, the dock at HaLong and my boat Captain and his wife. All thumbs up, excellent everything!

Captain's wife never paused to take a break for herself, she was a blur. On my cruise were many kon Tai from Bangkok and we all got along famously. The food and accommodations were about 12 on a scale of 10. Truly remarkable. Yes, I have heard stories at the other extreme. Did I luck out? Dunno---I had one of my best trips in my life. I want to go back to HaLong Bay, do a lengthy excursion to the outer islands.

After touring the immense cave located at one of our stops (discovered in 1974---think Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, USA to give you an idea of the scale involved.) True...nothing compares with Carlsbad, but this cave was HUGE. All of the boats and captains lashed up a short hop after the cave tour. Take extra SD cards and batteries as my shutter barely paused. Incredible views.

People rented kayaks at our lash-up point, late afternoon. Members from other boats hopped back and forth to share beers. Nothing was loud and crazy, all civil. Others split to do island adventuring. I went swimming. A surf shirt would've been nice, but not really necessary.

Great night out---incredible stars overhead at night. I was afraid we would be socked in by cloud cover. One could see the glow of the lights of HaNoi to the west. Excellent meal was served.

In the morning I discovered that our Captain would be looping about several more islands before heading back to HaLong and docking. I did not want my trip to end. Pointing to his map, I asked if I could be put ashore at Cat Bau island? "Sure, no problem, what do you plan on doing?" I relayed my idea to view the island. The Captain called ahead to make sure a reputable motorbike taxi driver was waiting for me at the dock at Cat Bau. Very sweet.

Since I was splitting, I hastily arranged a tip pot to be paid to the Captain and his wife. The Vietnamese wife was privy to my discussion with Tai acquaintances. Boat paused and I was off!

My motorbike taxi dude was in his late 20s and a very good driver. Excellent Honda. He drove me about the island all day (about 5-6 hours) and I paid for meals and gassed up his bike. I knew the Viet word for "honey" and when I spied a handwritten sign, implored him to double back. He was aghast at my idea, yet game. We all visited with the beekeepers for about 1.5 hours. I bought 5 bottles of fantastic honey. Knapsack was getting heavy!

At the end of my adventuring, motorbike driver wanted $10 for his time ferrying me about. I gave him $20. He gave me a hug as I departed. Such is the case for any of us traveling. I took the hydrofoil from Cat Bau to Haiphiong Harbour, immersed in memory of history.

Bus back to HaNoi for a few days and then took train to Sapa.

Yes....HaLong is a must-see, incredible part of the world. The formations are limestone "karst" that arise right out of the sea. Krabi is the only other place on earth with similar formations.

There are variations on the amount of days one can book: from 2-3 days to 5-6 days or longer. YES, opt for the longer stint. You will not be disappointed.

The current storm that hit HaLong will be weathered. It must've been a brutal storm if it has taken a week to transfer all stranded. Trust that there have been lifelong friendships forged. Vietnamese are very good and gracious hosts. Vietnamese are fiercely proud and excellent seaman. The dock and launch facilities were perhaps damaged more than they were willing to admit.

Burgdawg. Thank you for an excellent report. I'm going. You should write more as I enjoyed reading.