The Ministry of Construction has just issued an urgent telegram requesting units across the country to strengthen solutions to ensure order and safety of inland waterway and maritime traffic after the particularly serious canoe capsizing in the sea area of Phu Quoc (An Giang).
According to the telegram, at about 1 pm on July 11, in the sea area about 200m from Hon May Rut, An Thoi (Phu Quoc Special Zone, An Giang province), a passenger canoe numbered AG-26751 capsized.
At the time of the accident, the vehicle was carrying 32 Indian tourists and 3 crew members including the driver, mechanic and service staff, on the journey from Hon May Rút to An Thoi port. As a result, by 3 pm on the same day, the accident had killed 15 people.
The Ministry of Construction sent condolences to the victims and expressed deep condolences to the relatives of the deceased victims.
To strengthen state management, effectively prevent and stop the situation of inland waterway and maritime traffic unsafety, the Minister of Construction requested the Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration, the Vietnam Register and the An Giang Provincial Department of Construction to continue to coordinate with the Border Guard, Coast Guard, Police and local authorities to urgently determine the cause of the accident, overcome the consequences, review inadequacies in management (if any), organize visits and support for victims and regularly report the handling results.
At the same time, the Ministry of Construction requested units across the country to urgently review and inspect the work of ensuring inland waterway and maritime traffic safety in the accident area as well as areas with similar conditions.
The focus is on strengthening the management of waterway passenger transport activities, especially for passenger transport routes from the mainland to islands such as Ly Son, Con Dao, Phu Quoc, Cat Ba and Ha Long Bay.
The assigned units coordinate with functional forces to inspect and supervise the compliance with regulations on waterway traffic safety of organizations and individuals engaged in passenger transport business, especially in extreme weather conditions; promptly handle and rectify violations and risks of unsafety.
The Ministry of Construction also requests a comprehensive inspection of the safety conditions of vehicles, life-saving and rescue equipment, the capacity of vehicle operators and the process of picking up and dropping off passengers to prevent similar incidents.
In addition, functional agencies must review the compliance with regulations on registration, vehicle inspection, technical safety and environmental protection certification, maintenance of technical status during exploitation; equipping life jackets, life-saving equipment; automatic identification equipment of ships and boats; crew quotas and lists of crew members.
The telegram also requests to strengthen forces to inspect and strictly handle acts of encroachment or re-encroachment on the protection scope of train channels and channel protection corridors on announced transport routes.
In addition, units need to review management work at ports and wharves, especially passenger wharves, river crossing wharves and wharves serving tourism and festivals.
The Ministry of Construction requests agencies and units to urgently deploy and have effective implementation solutions.
