What needs to be done to design and operate good boats for tourists visiting Ha Long Bay?

The incident of a tourist boat named Vinh Xanh 58 capsized in Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh), killing 36 people and leaving three missing (as of the morning of July 21), has created fear among tourists when visiting Ha Long Bay in particular and traveling by boat on rivers and seas in general.

A ship owner shared that there needs to be a change in mindset, not blaming objective factors or natural disasters every time a ship accident occurs, but rather frankly looking at subjective causes to have the right behavioral adjustments in shipbuilding and cruise ship business in Ha Long Bay. From there, creating a sense of safety for tourists when coming to Quang Ninh .

A ship design engineer confirmed that a ship that is properly designed and operated will always ensure passenger safety even in adverse weather conditions, because this capability is taken into account in the ship's design.

However, during operation, if the ship is extended or objects are installed that cause imbalance, increase wind resistance, or the ship is not ballasted enough, it will cause imbalance, increasing the risk of accidents when encountering adverse weather conditions.

In recent years, there have been many accidents involving tourist boats on Ha Long Bay, causing serious damage to people's lives and property.

Mr. B.D., a cruise ship owner with more than 20 years of experience in business on Ha Long Bay, shared that most of the cruise ship accidents on Ha Long Bay are due to unusual and unpredictable storms.

In addition to adverse weather conditions, the quality of the ship or the experience of the captain and crew also contribute to increasing or reducing the risk of accidents.

According to a ship design engineer with over 20 years of experience, ships must be ballasted (heavy objects in the bottom of the ship to balance and stabilize the ship) with enough weight to ensure stability during operation.

When a ship is fully ballasted, its anti-rolling and stability will be higher. However, when the ship is fully ballasted, it will consume more fuel to operate, so many ships are not fully ballasted, so the risk of capsizing is higher when encountering storms.

In addition, the ship design must minimize wind resistance, and the overall height of the ship must be consistent with the ship's draft to ensure stability during operation.

Installing additional equipment and furniture outside the design (swimming pool, stage, speakers, etc.) and gathering a large number of people at the same time on the deck or upper deck will cause the ship to lose balance, increasing the risk of capsizing, especially during storms.

According to the experience of many captains, when a storm hits, the first thing to do is to turn the bow of the ship to face the wind.

Drop the bow anchor and point the bow into the wind, use the anchor support machine to prevent anchor crawling (to prevent the ship's anchor from shifting on the seabed) and to prevent drifting. Instruct guests to wear life jackets and go down to the first floor area.

Cruise ships anchored at Ha Long International Passenger Port. (Photo: Duc Hieu/VNA)

Sit on the boat, avoid pushing to one side. Wait for the storm to pass before continuing the journey. According to experience, each storm only lasts about 20 minutes to 60 minutes.

A ship owner shared that in order to overcome and minimize risks and reduce the number of accidents involving tourist boats in Ha Long Bay in the future, local authorities need to maintain the current planning of the number of tourist boats.

Quickly replace older ships with more modern and safer designs; at the same time, stop installing additional equipment and furniture outside the design on the sundeck, promenade, and superstructure that increases wind resistance and causes ship imbalance.

Ships with flat bottoms and low drafts need to add heavier objects to the hold to counterbalance (to avoid “heavy on the bow, light on the stern” - heavy on the bow, light on the stern, causing imbalance); improve expertise and disseminate situation handling skills for captains and crew members when encountering storms.

Regarding the capsized ship Blue Bay 58 in Ha Long Bay, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction of Quang Ninh province Bui Hong Minh said that 100% of the tourist ships in Ha Long Bay have safety quality that is higher than the prescribed standards.

For example, the Green Bay 58 ship meets the safety and stability factor standard of 2.3 (while the inspection standard is more than 1). The ship has a steel hull; designed length of 20.8m, the largest length is 24.04m; designed width of 5.91m, the largest width is 6m; side height of 1.7m, draft of 1.2m.

The ship is used as a tourist ship and is allowed to carry 48 passengers. However, the parameters of ballast, draft during operation and overall height of the ship have not been announced by the authorities.

According to some ship owners, the total height of the ship from the dry side to the superstructure including the cockpit is estimated at about 6-7m. The cause of the above incident is still being investigated and clarified by the authorities./.