This morning, April 30, Dong Bai ferry departed its first trip to take passengers to Cat Ba island from 5 am, 20 minutes earlier than the publicly announced ferry schedule. According to a representative of the Dong Bai ferry management and operation unit, before 5 am, the line of cars queuing through the ferry was already kilometers long. The unit has asked for opinions to operate the ferry earlier than usual to limit congestion and prevent people from waiting for a long time.
However, at 10 am on the same day, vehicles flocking to Dong Bai ferry terminal became more and more crowded, the stream of vehicles stretched to the Tan Vu - Lach Huyen intersection, about 2 km long. The ferry ticket sales area was also crowded from early morning.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy (Duong Kinh ward, Hai Phong) said that this morning she brought friends from Hanoi to vacation in Cat Ba for 3 days of holiday. Due to anticipating the congestion situation, her group left very early, bringing food and drinks for breakfast while waiting for the ferry. "Although we had to wait a bit long, because we had prepared ourselves mentally in advance, everyone was comfortable waiting. Hopefully by noon we can get to the island according to the schedule" - Ms. Thuy said.
Previously, to serve the peak travel season of summer 2026 from the end of April to the end of August, the frequency of the Dong Bai - Cai Vieng ferry route increased from 23 to 38 trips/day. The time between trips is commonly about 20 minutes, sometimes more than about 40 minutes, depending on the actual situation.
Bayview Cat Ba Co., Ltd. will increase ferries with a tonnage of 180 tons or more during peak hours to improve the ability to transport vehicles to Cat Ba Island. Ferry trips with a tonnage of less than 100 tons are mainly arranged during some morning hours when the number of passengers is not high. Compared to before, reducing the number of small ferry trips and increasing the number of large ferries helps improve operation efficiency and reduce vehicle congestion at both ends of the station.
In order to limit congestion, the Hai Phong Department of Construction has also issued a document on temporarily suspending the receipt of cars and trucks through Dong Bai ferry in the direction to Cat Ba Island from April 25, 2026 to May 3, 2026 and weekends, from May 9, 2026 to the end of September 30, 2026. The temporary suspension time is from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. During the above suspension time, tourists can go to Cat Ba Island by cable car, high-speed train and bus.
Some images at Dong Bai ferry wharf on the morning of April 30:
