A new high-speed boat operator is slated to increase the number of vessels bringing tourists to Ly Son Island off central Vietnam to nine vehicles, at a time when supply is falling short of demand.

The first vessel operated by Thai Binh Duong Co. docked at the island administered by Quang Ngai Province on Monday, and will soon be joined by four others, company director Duong Hong Huong told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the same day.

The Greenlines-A1, equipped with two 400hp engines, is capable of carrying 60 passengers and traveling at a speed of 25 to 28 nautical miles per hour. (1 nautical mile = 1.85 kilometers)

Thai Binh Duong Co. is completing necessary paperwork to have the ship operate on the Ly Son-Sa Ky Port, and Lon (Big) Island and Nho (Small) Island services, Huong said.

Sa Ky Port is located within the Dung Quat Economic Zone in Quang Ngai, around 750km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

Greenlines-A1 is the first out of five high-speed boats Thai Binh Duong is building for the Ly Son service.

Two of the remaining vessels are capable of serving 150 and 40 passengers, respectively, whereas the two others are rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB) with a maximum capacity of 16 people.

A RHIB is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale.

All of the boats have a design speed between 30 and 35 nautical miles per hour.

“We will serve local people and tourists with a modern mechanism in which tickets will be sold via an online system,” Hoang said.

There are currently four high-speed boats with a total capacity of 650 passengers to bring vacationers to Ly Son Island.

The modest supply of ships is incapable of meeting the huge demand of people who want to experience the idyll atmosphere of Ly Son, especially during major public holidays.

The ships were overloaded and hotels on the island were fully booked during the latest occasion, International Women’s Day, when many chose to travel.

Ly Son Island, about 25km off Quang Ngai’s mainland, is known as a major offshore fishing center and for having a special variety of garlic named mo coi (orphaned).

The island has begun to develop its tourist industry over the last few years and has since emerged as a favorite location for ecotourism.

The infrastructure on Ly Son has thus been improved, with the island being connected to the national grid via a submarine cable system in September last year, while a taxi operator in the central city of Da Nang also sent nine cabs to the island last month.

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