In the first days of March, according to Lao Dong's records at Huong Ly port, Yen Binh commune, waterway traffic on Thac Ba Lake was sparse. No longer the bustling and exciting scene often seen every time Spring comes.
In the area of Huong Ly port and Thac Ba wharf nearby, passenger boats lined up in long lines, no sign of ship owners or tourists.
According to some boat owners here, after a particularly serious waterway traffic accident that occurred on the evening of February 21, killing 6 people, many tourist groups that planned in advance canceled their schedules.
Before Tet, almost no boats were booked. But after the accident, all schedules were canceled," a boat owner said.
Ms. Bui Thi Hue - owner of a passenger ship near Huong Ly port shared that the number of tourists is almost gone after the accident, and the number of people traveling by boat between communes across the lake has also decreased by 80-90%.
After Tet, students returning to school from the lakeside communes are very crowded, adults also return to provinces and cities to work a lot. Now only elderly people with car sickness choose to travel by train. And students or adults from the lakeside communes choose to rent cars to return to school to gather," Ms. Hue sighed.
Ms. Nguyen Thao Van - owner of a passenger ship at Huong Ly port said bitterly, "Previously, there were 16 - 20 passenger ship trips per day from Huong Ly port to the lakeside communes (Thac Ba, Cam Nhan, Bao Ai). The number of passengers per day was hundreds of people and vehicles, not including tourists.
But after the accident, now Huong Ly port or Thac Ba wharf are deserted trains, some trains cannot operate because there are no passengers," Ms. Van shared.
Faced with the above situation, many ship owners are looking to sell their family's vehicles to cover their economic expenses.
Representatives of Yen Bai Inland Waterway Transport Joint Stock Company said - After a waterway traffic accident that killed 6 people, out of 6 routes carrying passengers to the lakeside communes, only 2 are left, the remaining routes are not carrying passengers because there are no passengers. The number of passenger ships has also decreased by more than half due to the lack of passengers.
For tourist boats at the port, the number of passengers also decreased sharply, almost no passengers after the above incident. Some groups currently have already booked boats and deposited money before Tet and are still deploying, with no new developments.
Many newly built ships, with all kinds of operating procedures and billions of VND in costs, are also left empty from Tet because there are no passengers.
Mr. Dinh Dang Khoa, Deputy Director of Yen Bai Inland Waterway Transport Joint Stock Company, said: The unit has assigned professional departments to closely monitor vehicles and ship drivers. At the same time, inspect and review all transport vehicles, strictly comply with regulations in waterway transport, and passenger ships that meet the conditions for departure are allowed to circulate.
Mr. Hoang Hop - Vice Chairman of Yen Binh Commune People's Committee also said that the locality has directed professional departments and agencies to review all vehicles circulating on the route, requiring strict compliance with regulations on waterway traffic laws.
In addition, request ship owners to sign commitments when participating in transporting people and vehicles on the lake, regulations on fire prevention and fighting, civil insurance...
