According to the Project on protecting, exploiting, and promoting the value of Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Site, associated with Bai Tu Long Bay, which has just been approved by the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province, by 2030, 100% of tourist ships operating in Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay will be steel-hulled ships or equivalent materials.
In this roadmap, piloting electric tourist boats is considered an important step forward, opening up a new approach to passenger transport activities on heritage sites.
The tourist boat fleet in Ha Long Bay was formed in 1988 with less than 10 wooden boats, each boat carrying only 6-15 passengers.
After nearly four decades of development, the fleet has had a strong change in both quantity, scale and quality.
In 2015, the number of ships reached 539, the highest level ever. However, in recent years, Quang Ninh has shifted its focus from developing quantity to improving quality, while controlling the scale of the fleet to ensure harmony between tourism exploitation and heritage preservation.
To date, the whole province has 487 ships registered to operate in Ha Long Bay, of which 369 ships are in operation and 118 ships are temporarily suspended to wait for new construction or replacement.
The current fleet includes 268 sightseeing ships, carrying 15,943 passengers; 97 accommodation ships with 1,815 rooms, carrying 4,281 passengers; and 4 restaurant ships with a capacity of 1,140 passengers.
The adjustment of the fleet structure in the direction of increasing the proportion of steel-hulled vessels, increasing the scale and quality of vehicles both meets the tourism development requirements of the province, and is in line with UNESCO's recommendation not to increase the number of vehicles operating in the core area of the World Natural Heritage. At the same time, the fleet currently still ensures the capacity to serve about 3.6 million visitors and stays each year.
From 2021 to now, over 110 tourist boats have been newly built, replaced by steel-hulled boats and put into operation.
The new ships are not only more durable, safer and more stable but also invested in improving service quality.
The space on board is designed to be more spacious and modern. Besides dining, rest and sightseeing areas, many vehicles are equipped with jacuzzis, relaxation areas, check-in spaces, outdoor stages and many other amenities. Thereby, helping visitors have more experiences.
