Around 500 passenger boats on Ha Long Bay in the
northern province Quang Ninh refused to carry travelers on Friday morning as
boat owners cited that their facilities failed to meet safety regulations as
ruled in the new decision.

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The unanimous move of those boat
owners has caused the cruising service on Ha Long Bay becoming totally
paralyzed.

Ha Long 03 boat owner Nguyen Van Dan
told Tuoi Tre the new decision issued by the Quang Ninh People’s
Committee rules on so strict a condition on safety that his boat fails to meet
them.

Ngo Quang Dao, director of Phuong
Dong Galaxy owning some boats, added he was only informed of the new decision
coded 716/2011/QD-UBND on June 8, two days before the decision took effect
Friday.

The decision requires boats to
install automatic systems for fire alarm and fire fighting, he added.

“It requires each boat must equip a
high-pressure pump able to spray water up to 35-40 meters, but we can’t find
such a pump in Vietnamese market now,” Dao said.

“Those are the reasons why we don’t
register to carry passengers today,” he argued.

Dao Manh Luong, chairman of the
Association of the Ha Long Bay’s Fleet of Boats, recommended that the province
should discuss with boat owners to build up a roadmap to upgrade the fleet.

Local authorities have not made any
public announcement or explanation concerning the case.

It has left over a hundred of
domestic and foreign travelers waiting for hours in vain this morning.

VietNamNet/Tuoi
Tre