The Last Days Of Junk

Amid safety and environmental concerns, the traditional Vietnamese junk is being phased out. Those wishing to experience this sliver of sailing history must act fast...

- Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Much debate surrounds the origins of the word ‘junk’. Some believe it was derived from ‘chuan’, a Chinese word for ship. Others say it evolved from the ancient Javanese word ‘djong’, while some argue it’s a corruption of the Portuguese word ‘junco’.

But there’s no questioning the fact that these handmade wooden ships born in second-century China boast one of the most successful designs in maritime history. Junks’ half-watermelon shape engenders stability in the region’s cyclone-prone seas, while keelless hulls give them access to rivers and shallow inlets and bays. Bulkheads create watertight compartments to repair leaks at sea, while curved sails reinforced with bamboo spines that redirect wind into each other make junks fast.

These ingenious and versatile boats are still used for fishing in China and Japan today. Junks are also used for sightseeing in Hong Kong and live-aboard cruising in Cambodia and Vietnam. Following a series of fires and sinkings, however, including a 2011 tragedy that killed 11 tourists and a guide in Vietnam, the government has passed laws to phase out junks within the next five years.

To learn more and experience what it’s like sailing on the Vietnamese junks before they disappear, I travelled to Ha Long Bay, a famous cruising destination in the country’s far north where enormous limestone towers, known as karsts, rise like giant chess pieces from the sea.

In 1980, with Vietnam still reeling from the American War, Nguen Van Cuong left his fishing village in Ha Long Bay’s Cat Ba Island for compulsory military service on the mainland. Afterwards, he moved to the the coastal city of Hai Phong and floated between different jobs until the 1990s, when two events coalesced to redefine his career.