The Da Nang People’s Committee recently gave the go-ahead to plans for bolstering the development of local waterway transport by 2025.

A tourist boat on the Han River

Under the plans, the 4 existing sightseeing boat tours will be maintained.  All of them depart from the Han River.  They are: Han River Bridge - Tran Thi Ly Bridge; Han River Port – the mouth of the Han River - Son Tra Peninsula; Han River - Ngoc (Ruby) Island; and Han River - Cham Islands. 

In addition, 4 new routes will be put into operation next year, namely: Han River - Ngu Hanh Son District; Han River - Cam Le District - Tuy Loan River - Thai Lai Village in Hoa Vang District; Cu De - Truong Dinh River; and Han River - Vinh Dien Town.

By 2018, they will utilise the types of tourist boats which are popular in other countries.  In detail, the coastal transport routes will use river-sea compatible ships (VR-SB), with each boat accommodating between 30 and 50 passengers.  First-class river vessels (VR-SI) will operate on tours around the Son Tra Peninsula, whilst speedboats will be on the Han River-Cham Islands route, trip boats carrying between 50 and 250 passengers will operate on the sightseeing tours on the Han River, and vessels accommodating between 20 and 30 passengers will tour the local rivers to popular attractions.

As regards the trip boats currently operating on the Han River, they are required to be equipped with an automatic identification system (AIS), which is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships, AIS base stations, and satellites. 

In addition, the city authorities will develop plans to ensure inland waterway traffic safety, improve the professional skills of boats’ crew members, and tighten the management of the operation of waterway transport activities.

Under the recently-approved plans, a total of 38 passenger pick-up and drop-off points will be set up.  Also, anchorages designated for tourist boats will be established along such local seaside streets as Truong Sa, Vo Nguyen Giap and Hoang Sa, near the Bien Dong Resort, and at local bathing areas including My Khe and Sao Bien.  Appeals will be made for public investment into the construction of these anchorages.

Special attention will be paid to developing new boat tours on the Cu De, Cam Le, Han, Tuy Loan, Yen, Vinh Dien, Qua Giang and Co Co rivers.