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Co To, Bach Long Vy island districts target sea route

Leaders of Co To (Quang Ninh province) and Bach Long Vy (Hai Phong city) have agreed to propose competent agencies establish a sea route connecting the two island districts.

The move aims to boost their trade, tourism and services, and to spur their socio-economic development, as the sea route will help shorten travel time between the islands.

The districts will also closely coordinate in the information work, disease control, including COVID-19, healthcare services to their residents and fishermen, marine environmental protection, the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, natural disaster response, search and rescue operations, smuggling and trade fraud combat, as well as in national defence and security.

Co To and Bach Long Vy are the first two localities that have concretised Conclusion No. 160-KL/TUHP-TUQN dated October 20, 2021, issued by the Standing Boards of the Party Committees of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh on the cooperation programme between the two localities.

However, due to the geographical location, there is now only a passenger boat to Bach Long Vy that began operations since July 2020, offering three trips each month, with a capacity of 200 passengers.

Bach Long Vi – a frontline island in the northern port city of Hai Phong, is a large fishing field in the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf, with a special strategic location and security-defence significance in safeguarding national sea and island sovereignty and developing the maritime economy.

Bach Long Vi, which means the dragon’s tail, is a small island located at about 110km from Hai Phong city. Its population was 624, according to 2019 statistics.

It is one of the two island districts of Hai Phong, about 5-6 hours by boat from the mainland to the mostly untouched island.

Bach Long Vi has been defined as a future fishery logistics and rescue centre in the northern region. It has accessed fresh water and power supply.

Co To boasts huge potential for sea and island tourism and is an attractive destination for both domestic and foreign tourists with the number of visitors increasing constantly over the years.

The People’s Committee of Co To is also mulling over a seaplane route linking the island with the province’s Ha Long city. Trial flights were conducted on April 20 and 21.

With the seaplane route, travel time between Tuan Chau international wharf in Ha Long city and Co To is estimated at 20 minutes.

The route is hoped to diversify services and shorten travel time to Co To, thus meeting demand of visitors in the high-end tourism segment, especially foreign holidaymakers.

It will fly across famous destinations such as UNESCO World Heritage Site Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long and Ngoc Vung island, among other.

The seaplane that is expected to put into operation is an aircraft manufactured by Cessna, belonging to Textrol Aviation Group, the US.

This is the world's largest single-engine aircraft, designed to serve short flights, flying at low altitudes, to connect localities that are not too far away but are divided by terrain. There are currently about 3,500 Cessna Caravans in service around the world, including five in Vietnam. The aircraft has a maximum capacity of 12 passengers./.
Author
 
Phạm Thu Hương

VNA/VNP


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