Thirteen international cruise ships set to bring more than 32,000 travelers to Nha Trang, a popular beach city in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, have been canceled as the Nha Trang Port is closed temporarily for repair.

Do Thanh Long, director of Hai Dang Nha Trang Shipping Agency Co. Ltd., reported that the company had notified authorities in Khanh Hoa Province of the cancelation of six international cruise ships set to bring 16,000-17,000 passengers to Nha Trang in January next year.

On October 10, the company also reported the cancelation of seven more cruise ships, which were scheduled to bring 16,000 passengers to Nha Trang between October 25 and the end of the year.

Among these canceled ships were the Quantum of the Seas (4,000 passengers), three Celebrity ships (8,400), the Regatta (800), the Seven Seas Explorer (800), and the Noordam (2,000).

Long added that Hai Dang Nha Trang Shipping Agency Co. Ltd. will only welcome three international cruise ships for the remainder of 2024, including one expected to arrive at Cam Ranh International Port within the next 10 days.

However, he was not sure if the three cruise ships would be canceled or not.

The cancelation of international cruise ships exerts an enormous impact on travel companies, shipping firms, international travelers, as well as the tourism sector of Nha Trang City and Khanh Hoa Province as a whole, Long added.

Earlier, Nha Trang Port Joint Stock Company announced that Nha Trang Port would temporarily stop receiving international cruise ships starting from September 20 to ensure the safety of all passengers and vessels and prevent possible incidents during the repair of the port.

However, when the company resumes the port's operations is unknown.

Nha Trang Port had four wharves that were capable of welcoming 40.000-DWT container vessels and 240-meter-long cruise ships.

On September 1, 2021, the Vietnam Maritime Administration closed wharf No. 4 due to the encroachment of its waters by another project, while wharf No. 3 had collapsed into the sea.

On Tuesday, the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism met with local shipping agencies and asked them to work with international shipping firms and other relevant agencies to have registered cruise ships dock at Cam Ranh International Port instead.

In 2023, Khanh Hoa Province welcomed 25 international cruise ships with over 45,800 passengers, VnEconomy reported.

The province already fulfilled its tourist number target for this year by welcoming nine million tourists, including 3.6 million foreign visitors, in the January-September period.

The province generated the highest-ever tourism revenue for the nine-month period, at over VND44.1 trillion (US$1.8 billion).

It looks to welcome an additional one to two million tourists in the rest of the year.

Nha Trang City is expected to receive 44 international cruise ships in 2024.

To date, 27 ships have docked in the city, bringing over 55,500 passengers, Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper reported, citing the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism.

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