The 47-metre, 12-metre wide, 598 passenger capacity vessel was put into operation on February 15.

The Con Dao Express 36 put into operation on February 15

On February 21, while the ship was carrying 500 passengers from Cau Da Port in Vung Tau City to Con Dao, it met a technical problem just 15 minutes after the departure. So the vessel had to return the mainland for repairs.

When just 800 metres from the shore, the vessel suffered engine failure.

Some passengers complained that they wanted to go to the shore, but the ship staff told that they should wait as the technical fault would be dealt with after one hour. But four hours later, the problem remained unresolved.

Con Dao Express 36 can cover Vung Tau to Con Dao Island within three hours, a reduction of 10 hours compared with regular ships on this route.

The ship is equipped with four Rolls Royce MTU engines, with a maximum speed of some 60 kilometres per hour.