Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Transport Tran Quang Lam said that the functional agencies coordinated with Greenlines DP Technology Company, the investor of the ferry connecting Vung Tau with Ho Chi Minh City, completed the salvage of the shipwreck yesterday afternoon.
Surveying the scene of the crash, Tran Quang Lam confirmed that the Greenlines DP Company had promptly dealt with the accident and avoided an oil spill incident, while ensuring the safety of all 42 passengers aboard.
A representative from the Greenlines DP Company said that the initial cause could have been a gearbox failure in the ferry's engine and it did not eliminate the possibility that the ferry ran into a strange object while moving.
At approximately 8:30am on the morning of April 8, as the Greenlines DP C3 ferry coded SG 7508, carrying 42 passengers, was running from Vung Tau to Tac Suat terminal in Can Gio district, Ho Chi Minh City, the captain discovered that the gearbox was experiencing a malfunction, while the ferry was only 300 metres from the Tac Suat terminal.
The crew inspected the ferry and detected that water was quickly overflowing into the cabin. The captain and crew immediately docked the ferry at the terminal and evacuated all 42 passengers safely.
The company also hastily contacted the local centre for search and rescue and the sea police force to salvage the ferry to serve the investigation.
All 42 passengers were uninjured and brought safely to shore and then transferred to another ferry to continue their trip.
