A new sand bar has recently appeared near Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An Town.

A new sand bar has recently appeared near Cua Dai Beach 

The 100-metre-long sand bar emerged near at Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An Town.

31-year-old Nguyen Nam said the sand strip had been submerged underwater for years until the ocean currents changed in 2017.

"I managed 75 hectares of coconut trees in Duy Hai Commune. Before 2017, our beach eroded pretty badly. We lost about 20 metres of beach every night and the coconut forest is now just 55 hectares," he said.

After 2017, the sand bar emerged and helped prevent further erosion and ocean rubbish from being swept ashore in Duy Hai Commune.

However, the sand bar also caused troubles for large ships. Nguyen The Hung, vice head of Hoi An Town People's Committee, said, "The sand blocks the current and so big ships from An Luong and Cua Dai ports have to go around it in order to go south."

It is thought that the sand bar might have been created by the accretion of sediment from the Thu Bon and Co Co rivers but Hung said he didn't know whether the sand bar was formed because of Thu Bon and Co Co rivers or by other factors.

It is hoped that the appearance of the sand bar would help inspire new solutions for the severe erosion at Cua Dai Beach. 

But many people also worry that when the rivers become narrower, they will to face more flooding problems and the waterway system will be affected.

Lao Dong/Dtinews