Circular No. 66/2025/TT-BXD stipulates technical safety requirements and environmental protection for overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels.

1. Overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels constructed from steel, aluminum, fiberglass reinforced plastic, wood, reinforced concrete, or reinforced concrete must comply with QCVN 72:2025/BGTVT and corresponding regulations stipulated in relevant standards that such vessels must adhere to.

2. New construction of overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels using wooden materials or conversion of other wooden vessels into overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels is prohibited.

3. Public address systems must have the capability to broadcast announcements in English in addition to Vietnamese if there are international guests.

4. Passageways on overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels must be equipped with directional lighting or photoluminescent strips indicating escape routes so that passengers can identify them in all situations.

5. Doors located on escape routes must be designed to open immediately without requiring keys or any tools.

6. The captain must assign crew members to patrol and monitor passenger areas and vessel conditions during operation, with patrols conducted at least once every hour and recorded in the ship's logbook.

7. The captain must organize regular drills on the use of life-saving equipment and evacuation procedures for crew members at least once every six months, with records including photographs kept in the ship's logbook.

Article 5. Environmental Protection Requirements

1. Overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels must comply with regulations on discharging waste and oil-contaminated water as prescribed in the National Technical Regulations on Pollution Prevention by Inland Waterway Vessels (Revised Edition 2:2016 QCVN 17:2011/BGTVT).

2. In addition to the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, the installation of pollution prevention equipment on overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels must meet the following requirements:

a) Oil Pollution Prevention Equipment

Overnight tourist cruise vessels powered by diesel engines, regardless of whether they are main or auxiliary engines, with a total power exceeding 220 kW must be equipped with an oil-water separator with a 15 ppm capacity and an oily water tank. The oil-water separator with a 15 ppm capacity must ensure that any oil-water mixture passing through the filtration system has an oil content not exceeding 15 ppm. The design of the oil-water separator with a 15 ppm capacity must be approved, inspected during manufacture, installation, and operation.

b) Wastewater Pollution Prevention Equipment

Overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels must be equipped with wastewater treatment facilities or holding tanks for transferring wastewater to reception points for treatment. Wastewater treatment facilities must comply with national technical regulations on domestic wastewater and must be approved, inspected during manufacture, installation, and operation.

c) Waste Pollution Prevention Equipment

Overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels must be equipped with waste storage facilities for transfer to reception points.

Article 6. Responsibility for Implementation

The Vietnam Ship Survey Corporation is responsible for implementing the provisions of this Circular.

Article 7. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from February 15, 2026.

2. The Circular No. 43/2012/TT-BGTVT dated October 23, 2012, of the Minister of the Ministry of Transport prescribing technical requirements and environmental protection for overnight tourist cruise vessels, floating restaurants, and floating hotels is hereby abolished.