Thang Long high-speed ferry docks at Cau Da port in Vung Tau city. — VNA/VNS Photo

Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu — A high-speed ferry service connecting Vũng Tàu City (in the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu), HCM City, and Côn Đảo Island (in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province) was launched on March 8 by Phú Quốc Express JSC.

The three-storied high-speed boat, named Thăng Long, which is 77.46m in length and 9.5m in wide, will better serve the travelling demand between Côn Đảo Island and the mainland.

Vũ Văn Khương, director general of Phú Quốc Express JSC, said as the biggest express boat in Việt Nam, Thăng Long can carry up to 1,017 passengers.

The ferry will set out on its first trip from Cầu Đá Port in Vũng Tàu City on March 9 and return the next day, he continued, adding that all tickets have been sold out.

Côn Đảo is an island located 180km from Vũng Tàu city, and about 230km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. It is well known for beaches with white sand, deep blue water and colorful coral reefs. French colonialists and the Americans turned the island into a prison to jail Vietnamese revolutionary soldiers in wartime. The island has attracted many local and foreign visitors in recent years. — VNS