Quang Ninh to reduce number of tourist ships

The number of tourist ships operating in Ha Long Bay would be reduced, chairman of the Quang Ninh People's Committee, Nguyen Duc Long, said at meeting on Tuesday.
The number of tourist ships in the bay is too many and exceeds the demand, he said.
Moreover, the ships do not have uniform service quality.
All the ships operating in the bay must be checked to ensure their quality and reduce their numbers to prevent excess traffic, Long said.
About 530 tourist ships of different kinds operate in the bay at present.
The ships are managed by five departments and agencies: the Department of Transport, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Quang Ninh Police, the Fire Prevention and Control Police, and the bay management board.
Participants at the meeting agreed that the bay management board was facing obstacles due to slack coordination between the departments concerned and the shortcomings of the ships scheme.
Since 2012, the province has been planning to stop building of ships with wooden covers.
Long asked the provincial inspectors submit the results of their inspection to the provincial people's committee by next month-end.