A vessel that will be used for the Can Gio - Vung Tau route.
Photo courtesy of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport. 

After several delays, a new ferry service connecting HCMC’s coastal district Can Gio to resort town Vung Tau will enter operation next month. 

Bui Hoa An, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, said workers are racing against time to finish construction of wharfs in Can Gio and Vung Tau ahead of the December start date. "Project delays had occurred due to the bidding process," An said.

The ferry service had originally been scheduled for launch in April. It was then rescheduled to debut on September 2 to meet growing travel demand during the National Day holiday but continued to be delayed until October due to the country's second coronavirus outbreak.

The second Covid-19 outbreak began on July 25 after Vietnam had gone over three months without recording a single domestic infection. The country has now gone 86 days without community transmissions

This is the first ferry service in HCMC, expected to reduce travel time between Can Gio, a low, palm-fringed island district on the outskirts of the city and Vung Tau to 30 minutes. Now, travel between the two localities by road takes around three and a half hours.

Can Gio is well known for its fresh seafood and eco-tourist sites that attract many visitors on short trips. It is also home to Can Gio Mangrove Forest, a world-class biological reserve recognized by UNESCO in 2000. Vung Tau in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is a famous local beach town.

A floating house nestles amid a mangrove forest in Can Gio District, HCMC.
Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Operated by Quoc Chanh One Member Ltd., a waterway transport company, two vessels 45 m long and 10 m wide will transport up to 350 people, 20 cars, 100 motorbikes and goods. Each day, there will be about 24 trips, with each 60 minutes apart.

The vessels will depart Tac Thuat Wharf in Can Thanh Town in Can Gio District for Vung Tau Wharf near the headquarters of Vung Tau Maritime Port in Ward 1 of Vung Tau.

The ferry route is expected to create more motivation for the development of tourism and waterways and contribute to reducing road traffic pressure.