Vietnam coastal ferry route awaits approval

A $1.23 billion project to build a North-South express sea route using specialised vessels has been submitted to the Vietnam government for approval. The sea route for cargo and passenger transport was proposed by the Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin) and would require six new large ropax ferries to be built over four years starting later this year to 2011.

In the first phase, Vinashin plans to build several vessels in Italy in order to gain the necessary experience and technical knowledge. The remaining vessels will be built at Vinashin?s shipyards.

Once completed, two of the ferries, each with a carrying capacity of 2,700 passengers and 900 vehicles will be running on a long-distance route from Hon Gai Town in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh to HCM City. Four smaller-sized vessels with a capacity of 1,000 passengers and 600 vehicles each will service the Hon Gai-Chan May and Chan May-HCM City routes. Late last year, Vinashin bought the Italian built passenger car ferry Cartour which it renamed Hoa Sen. This 2001 built 25,000 gt vessel is running a trial weekly service on the North-South express sea route.