Accordingly, businesses and owners of tourist transport vehicles in the bay are required to strictly comply with regulations on inland waterway traffic safety; require 100% of passengers to wear life jackets properly from the time they board the ship and throughout the sightseeing process. Vehicles are not allowed to depart when passengers do not comply with the regulations on wearing life jackets or when they do not fully ensure safety conditions as prescribed.
In addition, the captain and crew members are responsible for guiding passengers to use life jackets, disseminating safety regulations, the location of life-saving equipment, and escape plans before departure; proactively monitoring weather conditions, absolutely not putting vehicles into operation when there is a dangerous weather warning.
For areas with high vehicle density or in unfavorable weather conditions, require the captain to directly control the vehicle, strengthen vigilance to prevent the risk of collisions and accidents. At the same time, businesses must develop incident response plans, search and rescue suitable to the operating conditions of each vehicle; promptly deploy rescue and relief measures when an emergency situation occurs.
Cat Hai Special Zone People's Committee also assigned functional agencies to strengthen propaganda and dissemination of laws on waterway traffic safety; raise awareness of people and tourists about the importance of wearing life jackets when participating in tourism activities in the bay.
Cat Ba Border Guard Station, the Management Board of Bays of Cat Ba Archipelago, Representatives of Port Authority Region 1 and related forces are assigned the task of strengthening inspection and supervision of compliance with safety regulations; inspecting technical conditions of vehicles, legal documents, professional certificates of vehicle operators; resolutely strictly handling violations and not allowing vehicles that do not meet safety conditions to participate in operations.
Strengthening safety measures in tourism activities in the bays of the Cat Ba archipelago not only contributes to protecting the lives and health of tourists but also improves service quality, maintains the reputation and brand of Cat Ba tourism, towards building a safe, friendly and sustainable destination.
People, tourists and tourism service business units need to seriously comply with regulations on waterway traffic safety, proactively coordinate with functional agencies in prevention, response and handling of arising situations, contributing to ensuring a safe tourism environment in the bays of the Cat Ba archipelago.
Previously, as Lao Dong reported, at 9:15 am on June 14, the unit received a report from Mr. Do Van T (captain of vehicle HP-5665) about a collision between two passenger ships in Lan Ha Bay. At about 9:05 am on the same day, when vehicle HP-5665 and vehicle HP-3847 were traveling parallel in the Van Boi estuary area, vehicle HP-3847 suddenly drifted its bow to the right, leading to a collision with vehicle HP-5665. As a result, vehicle HP-3847 sank. All 10 passengers and 1 crew member on vehicle HP-3847 were rescued by boats operating near the area and brought onto vehicle HP-5665 safely. Among the passengers was Ms. Nguyen Thi N (born in 1983) who was injured and taken to Cat Hai Special Economic Zone Medical Center for emergency treatment, but died later.
Standing Vice Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee Le Anh Quan assigned the City Police to preside over and coordinate with the City Military Command, Department of Construction, Cat Hai Special Zone People's Committee and relevant agencies to urgently investigate and clarify the cause of the incident; strictly handle violating organizations and individuals (if any) according to the provisions of law. At the same time, strengthen patrols and control of waterway transport activities, resolutely handle violations of regulations on ensuring waterway traffic safety.
