Hydrofoil service between Saigon and Vung Tau will resume in November with a fleet of new boats.
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The route will be serviced by new two-deck high-speed boats that run at speeds of up to 60km/hour and cost US$1 million a piece, reports Vietnam News.
The vessels, designed by Vietnamese engineers and built to European standards, will be able to make the trip from the southern metropolis to the coastal city in one hour and 15 minutes at a cost of VND250,000 per person.
"We'd like to support these boats to serve passengers as soon as possible," said Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat during a pilot testing last Sunday.
The popular hydrofoil service was plagued by a number of accidents over the past few years, culminating in an incident where a boat caught fire shortly after leaving Saigon’s Bach Dang Wharf. After failed attempts to put out the fire with fire extinguishers, the vessel was hastily evacuated and passengers, many of them tourists, were forced to wade through muddy waters to reach shore.
After the accident, a review of the hydrofoil fleet revealed serious safety problems and the HCMC Department of Transport suspended service of the Soviet-era boats.
Even though they lack the shaped veins that are typical of hydrofoils, both Vietnam News and Thanh Nien refer to the crafts as such. However, they look a lot more like speedboats to us and this would match what has been previously reported.
[Photos via DP Consulting]
