Salvage halted in Ha Long tourist boat disaster
Print Authorities have halted the salvaging of a tour boat which sank in the world famous Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam yesterday morning killing 12 tourists from 9 different countries.
At 4:20 pm, authorities temporarily halted the salvage due to shallow water.
Salvage will continue from 6am tomorrow (Saturday). The boat is expected to be towed ashore at 11h noon.
Water will then be plucked out and police will examine the scene.
Salvage process
At 11am today, the tide was down, revealing the sunk vessel’s mast and flag.
By 1pm today, it was partially lifted and by 2pm, the boat’s first storey completely showed.
It was then hoisted and tugged towards a nearby islet.
At 2:26 pm, the vessel was 300m away from shore.
By 4pm, two thirds of the boat body was revealed above water and was 200m from the nearest islet.
Luggage and clothes were collected for investigation.
Earlier, police, military forces, three tug boats and other specialized tools were mobilized towards the scene near Ti Top Island to retrieve the Truong Hai 06.
The 12 perished tourists including 10 foreigners, one Vietnamese-Australian and one Vietnamese citizen died when they were sleeping aboard the boat which sank at around 4.45am.
Many Ha Long Bay tour boats have dining facilities and cabins for tourists to spend the night on the waters.
For now, local authorities have banned tour boats from letting their customers spend the night on board.
This is one of the worst accidents in Vietnamese history involving foreign tourists.
Ha Long Bay, about 100 miles east of the capital Hanoi, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. It is probably the most famous tourism hot spot in Vietnam.
This morning, foreign tourists are seen touring the Bay as usual.
Meanwhile, police have initiated proceedings to criminally investigate the case.
Initial investigation shows that one wooden plank in the engine room got cracked, letting in sea water, which capsized the boat.
Below is the list of victims.
List of perished tourists:
1. Mccormick Stuart (male- born in 1980): UK
2. Pyle Holly Michelle (female- 1985): US
3. Taylor Samantha Kay (female- 1989): US
4. Voropinova Elena (female- 1962): Russian
5. Voropinova Anastasia (female- 1987): Russian
6. Nakahara Jumpei (male- 1990): Japanese
7. Noblecourt Laetitia Francoise Monique (female- 1983): French
8. Bankestad Viola Birgitta (female- 1991): Swede
9. Krok Anna Ellen (female- 1990): Swede
10. Gerber Baniamin Charly (male- 1985): Swiss
11. Đinh Văn Thắng (male- 1983): Vietnamese
12. Lâm Ngọc Châu (male- 1979): Vietnamese-Australian (Australian passport)
List of rescued tourists:
1. Stobbe Marie Elisabeth (female- born 1990): Danish
2. Pedersen Kasper Kammersgaard (male- born 1987): Danish
3. Scattarelli Claudio (male- 1990): German
4. Sacconi Stefand (male- 1978): Italian
5. Corda Stefand (male-1975): Italian
6. Fosmire George William (male-1988): US
7. Nguyễn Khương Duy (Male-1975): Vietnamese-Australian
8. Abrard James Dany Michel Eddy (male- 1983): French
9. Smhidli Ramona (female- 1990): Swiss
Nguyen Manh Ha, deputy chief of the Ha Long Bay Management Board, said that aboard the ship belonging to Truong Hai Company were 26 people including one captain, four crew members, one tour guide, and 20 foreign tourists.
The weather was normal at the time of the accident, he added.
Ha Long Bay’s 1,600 islands and islets form a spectacular seascape of mostly uninhabited limestone pillars made famous by the 1992 French movie "Indochine."
It is not the first time disaster has struck at the popular tourist attraction.
In September 2009, three foreign tourists - two from Britain and one from France - died along with their local guide when their vessel overturned during heavy rain on the bay, AFP reported.
Official data show that in the first 10 months of last year more than 2.3 million tourists visited Ha Long Bay, roughly evenly split between local visitors and foreigners, with almost 200,000 boat trips during the period, according to AFP.
