Vietnam imposes sea bans as Typhoon Matmo nears

Hai Phong has banned all tourist boats and fishing vessels from going out to sea starting from 5 p.m. Saturday, according to the port city's Civil Defense Command.

All tourism, leisure, and entertainment activities in sea and island areas; exploitation, cultivation, and fishing of aquatic products; and any other activities at estuaries, coastal areas, and offshore are also suspended.

A fisherman prepares his boat for Typhoon Matmo at a port on Do Son Beach, Hai Phong. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tan

The City Border Guard Command and the People's Committees of coastal communes, wards, and special districts are required to inform and call back vessels currently operating at sea, as well as workers on aquaculture rafts and watch huts, to seek safe shelter by all means.

Arrangements must be made to prevent collisions and sinking at boat docks before 7 p.m. the same day.

In Quang Ninh Province, home to Ha Long Bay, the Departments of Agriculture and Environment called for coastal administrations to temporarily suspend licenses for vessels going out to sea before noon Sunday, and halt permits for tourism and overnight stays at sea from 8 a.m. the same day.

In Hung Yen Province, the Provincial Military Command, in coordination with coastal commune authorities and other related units, imposed a sea ban from 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Coastal authorities are ordered to call back, inspect, and guide vessels to seek safe shelter, arranging to prevent collisions and sinking by 9 p.m. Saturday.

The typhoon lay centered 70 kilometerseast-northeast of China's Hainan Island and around 420 kilometers from Quang Ninh, which borders China and is home to Ha Long Bay, at 7 a.m. Sunday, according to Vietnam's National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting.

Its maximum sustained winds were 149 kilometers per hour, gusting up to 167-183 kph. It was moving at a speed of 25 kph.

Typhoon Matmo is set to make landfall in Quang Ninh Monday morning, then track along the northern border, bringing heavy rain to the mountainous provinces.