Tourists abandoned on Ha Long Bay island

The Ha Long Bay Management Board said on Tuesday that the tourists from Hanoi had boarded the ship on Sunday that carried a total of 99 people to visit the island, about 14 kilometers to the east of Bai Chay tourist area.

The ship promised to pick up the tourists at the wharf at 3:30 p.m. to take them to the mainland.

However, the tourists claimed they had been left on the island for 30 minutes without receiving any announcement or phone calls from the ship. Another ship was later dispatched to pick up them.

They described their experience as "a tragedy."

A representative of the ship blamed the incident on "large number of passengers at this time," making it unable to control the number of people onboard.

The incident has drawn public attention after the tourists complained their experience on social media, prompting authorities to step in.

Local authorities asked the ship to make an apology to the abandoned tourists and the ship's representative said these tourists had "accepted its apology."

A beach on Ti Top Island in Ha Long Bay, northern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Ha Long Bay Management Board

According to the People's Committee of Ha Long City, the number of visitors to Ha Long has increased recently, with an average of 40,000-60,000 arrivals per day, and over 70,000 arrivals on weekends.

Ti Top island was named after Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov on his first visit to Ha Long Bay in 1962. It has a beach that is shaped like a crescent moon and known for its blue sea waters.

In the middle of the island is a small path leading to Ti-Top peak with more than 400 stone steps.