Nearly 12,000 people have been stranded on islands in the southern province of Kien Giang as boat services have been suspended since September 2.
According to the Kien Giang Provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue, and Civil Defence, local areas experienced heavy rain and strong winds due to the effects of Typhoon Saola. They took the decision to suspend boat and ferry services between Rach Gia to Nam Du, Phu Quoc and between Phu Quoc and Ha Tien since September 2.
"It was the National Day holiday and local islands have received a large number of visitors since September 1," the committee said. "About 12,000 visitors have been stranded on many islands here including over 10,000 on Phu Quoc."
Phu Bich Van, who is working for a boat agent in Phu Quoc City said that they had received hundreds of calls over the past few days asking about the resumption of boat and high-speed boat services.
"The holiday will end today, September 4, but we don't know when the service will resume as the weather is still bad," Van said.
Nguyen Mong Hoa, a visitor from Can Tho City said that she and a group of friends arrived in Phu Quoc on September 1 and intended to leave on September 3. However, the suspension of boat services meant that they had to extend their stay.
"We'll have to return to work and our children to school tomorrow, but the services haven't resumed this morning," she said.
Hotels in Phu Quoc have reported a sharp fall of 30 percent in occupancy rates during this year's National Day holiday against last year's figures as many guests cancelled bookings due to bad weather. A hotel owner in Duong Dong Town, Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy, said that less than ten percent of her hotel rooms were booked during this year's holiday.
