In September 2014, Ly Son Island was connected to the national power grid. Since then, the number of visitors to the island has sharply increased, leading to strong competition among ferry operations.
Many hi-speed ferries to Ly Son Island have been left abandoned due to the fierce competition with better services
The first hi-speed ferry Chin Nghia 3 was put into operation in early 2017. After that, modern ferries to Ly Son Island, some of which cost even more than USD1 million, were launched. To date, seven vessels of this kind are operational. The largest one can carry 280 passengers and the smallest can serve 78.
Older vessels have lost out due to the competition.
Nguyen Van Danh, owner of the only old ferry which is still conducting the service to Ly Son Island, said that, “our ships are around 20 minutes lower than the new ones but the tickets are VND40-60,000 cheaper than them. However, we’re still failing to attract passengers.”
A household even has up to three vessels worth VND37 billion (USD1.6 million) left unused. Another household is also in the same situation, with a VND15-billion (USD652,173) valued fleet.
The affected boat owners said that they would face at a minimum a halving in the value of their vessels if they sold them. They clean the ships for every two weeks
