Ha Long Bay disaster exposes fatal gap between rules and reality

Ha Long Bay’s deadliest boat disaster in years may not be just a tragedy, but a warning about hidden risks buried in Vietnam’s maritime regulations.

The Vinh Xanh 58 was carrying 49 people when it overturned near Dau Go Cave on July 19. The boat lost GPS contact minutes later. Only 10 passengers survived. One remain missing.

Built in 2015, Vinh Xanh 58 was 24 meters long, licensed to carry 48 passengers, and certified to operate in inland waters with wave heights up to 2 meters. The ship had exceeded national safety requirements, with a stability coefficient of 2.3, more than double the minimum, Bui Hong Minh, vice director of the Quang Ninh Department of Construction, said on July 20.

But critics argue the certification may not reflect the real risks of operating in Vietnam’s marine tourist hotspots.

Standards fall short

If the boat met all the standards and still flipped in seconds, it means something is off, said maritime safety expert Do Binh Duong. He believes current regulations, designed for calmer inland waters, fall short in unpredictable coastal environments like Ha Long Bay.

Duong, an expert with SAMASER Holdings, said passenger boats should meet the strictest safety standards of any vessel type, especially those carrying tourists. That means not only stable hull design for rough weather, but also reliable safety equipment and clear emergency instructions. Without all three, no boat is truly ready for unpredictable conditions, he warned.

Though Vinh Xanh 58 was certified above the required baseline, its sudden capsizing raises troubling doubts. Duong argued that applying inland waterway standards to Ha Long Bay, a coastal marine environment, is dangerously outdated.

« Even small yachts follow SB-class rules to sail at sea, » he said. « So why are tourist boats in one of Vietnam’s most high-risk marine areas treated like river ferries? »

He called for Ha Long Bay vessels to adopt SB-class standards, which are built for tougher sea conditions, including wave heights up to 2.5 meters.

In response, Vu Anh, head of the Inland Vessel Department at the Vietnam Register, pointed to the law, which classifies inland waters as any navigable body accessible to inland vessels, including rivers, canals, lagoons, bays and nearshore coastal areas.

Under national technical standards, Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay are designated as SII waters, where waves reach up to 1.2 meters. Routes connecting Ha Long Bay to Cat Ba Island and Hai Phong–Cat Ba fall under SI classification, with maximum wave heights of 2 meters. The Vinh Xanh 58 was built to VR-SI standards, higher than VR-SII, making it eligible to operate both within Ha Long Bay and on open-water routes to Cat Ba.

Responding to calls for stricter regulations, Vu Anh said Vietnam’s vessel standards were developed in collaboration with universities and research institutes, and modeled on international benchmarks from countries like Japan, China and Russia. The latest revision released in 2025 is designed to match global best practices. For Ha Long Bay, he said, both wave height and wind strength were factored into the calculations.

To ensure safety, Vu Anh emphasized, boats must go through a multi-step process: from design approval and construction oversight to certification and routine inspection. Every vessel must have its plans reviewed and approved before being built. Once constructed, it must pass a technical and environmental safety inspection to receive certification.

« Each year, vessels are reinspected. They also need valid licenses for the boat and its crew, plus daily port clearance before setting sail, » he added.

Hoang Giang, former Head of Maritime Safety at the Hai Phong Port Authority, called the sudden capsize of the Vinh Xanh 58 « highly abnormal, » noting that a boat flipping in mere seconds is a serious red flag.

After such an incident, he said, investigators must examine multiple factors: design specifications, passenger load, weather conditions, and how the vessel was operated. VR-SI boats, he added, are typically smaller and built for calm or nearshore waters, not rough, open bays.

If waves exceed a boat’s design limits, it can quickly lose stability. A high center of gravity or poor balance systems makes it especially vulnerable to being knocked over by strong side waves. Authorities, he said, should check whether the Vinh Xanh 58 was modified, overloaded or structurally compromised.

One maritime expert noted that VR-SI vessels are only rated for wave heights up to 2 meters and distances no more than 12 nautical miles from shore. For Ha Long Bay’s bustling tourist routes, he argued, boats should meet VR-SB standards, the highest class for inland vessels.

SB-class hulls are engineered to endure waves up to 2.5 meters. That means stronger materials, reinforced structure and enhanced stability in adverse conditions. Key safety factors, like freeboard height, wind pressure resistance and ballast tank placement, must all be precisely designed and inspected.

In terms of onboard tech, SB-class boats are required to have advanced navigation and emergency systems. These include radar, AIS (Automatic Identification System), maritime alerts and handheld radios. Crucially, they must carry distress beacons that automatically trigger in the event of a sinking, sending emergency signals via satellite to rescue teams.

Stronger safeguards needed

In response to the safety concerns, Vu Anh stressed that no vessel, regardless of design, can be fully immune to sudden, extreme weather events like squalls. That’s why, he said, safety must also be enforced operationally, not just technically.

That means banning sailings during hazardous weather, issuing real-time alerts to vessels already at sea, training passengers on how to evacuate in emergencies, and ensuring captains take immediate shelter near islands when storms roll in.

Some maritime experts are now calling for a dedicated 24/7 rescue force for Ha Long Bay, similar to coastal guard units in other countries. Such a team would monitor vessel signals in real time and respond instantly to distress calls, improving rescue times and saving lives.

By Le Tan & Doan Loan – VnExpress.net – July 26, 2025