Hong Kong horror: Famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant capsizes in South China Sea
HONG KONG's famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant has capsized in the South China Sea following "adverse weather conditions".
Hong Kong: Jumbo Floating Restaurant towed away
The famed restaurant, which has featured in multiple Hollywood movies, was towed out of Hong Kong last Tuesday. The incident occurred after the vessel "encountered adverse conditions", Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said today.
It said: "Saturday afternoon, when passing Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, the vessel encountered adverse conditions which water soon entered before it began to tip.
"Despite the efforts of the towing company responsible for the trip to rescue the vessel, unfortunately it capsized on Sunday."
No crew members were reported to be injured in the incident.
The restaurant is said to have capsized in water more than 3,000 feet deep, making any chance of salvaging the wreckage unlikely.
Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said: "Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises Limited is very saddened by this accident. The company is now getting further details of the accident from the towing company."
The restaurant cited the Coronavirus pandemic as the reason for finally shutting its doors in March 2020, after nearly a decade of financial troubles.
The restaurant’s owner, Melco International Development announced last month that before its licence expired in June, the Jumbo Restaurant would leave Hong Kong and await a new operator at an undisclosed location.
On June 1, AFP reported that the Jumbo’s kitchen boat had listed into the water after a suspected hull breach - listing nearly 90 degrees.
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Melco International stated the venture has not been profitable since 2013, as the restaurant has reportedly racked up HK$100million (£10.4miilion) in losses.
Melco International also reportedly claimed the company couldn’t give the restaurant away with dozens of businesses declining to take over operations at no charge.
Queen Elizabeth II famously dined at the restaurant, which also hosted actor Tom Cruise and millions of other patrons. It featured in Steven Soderbergh's Hollywood blockbuster Contagion.
It served traditional Cantonese Cuisine and seafood and was a landmark attraction in the city.
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The restaurant was just under 250 feet long and housed as many as 2300 diners.
It had sat at the southern Hong Kong Island Typhoon shelter for nearly half a century before it was towed away.
It was opened in 1976 by the late casino tycoon Stanley Ho and reportedly cost more than HK$30million (£3.1million) to build.
In previous decades, the restaurant was kept afloat by Hong Kong's booming tourism industry, however business slowed and Covid 19 proved to be the final nail in the restaurant's coffin.