According to the parent company, Hong Kong’s once-famous but economically struggling tourist attraction, Jumbo Floating Restaurant, sank into the South China Sea after being separated from the South China Sea.
Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprise announced in a statement that it was captured near the Paracel Islands on Sunday after “encountering adverse conditions” and starting to drink water.
“The depth of the water at the site is over 1,000 meters and it is very difficult to carry out rescue work,” he added.
The company said it was “very sad about the incident,” but the crew was not injured.
He said a marine technician had been hired to inspect the floating restaurant before the trip and set up a storehouse on the ship, with “all relevant approvals”.
The restaurant closed in March 2020 and said the Covid-19 pandemic was the last straw after nearly a decade of financial hardship.
Operator Melco International Development said last month that the business has not been in the black since 2013 and the cumulative loss has exceeded HK $ 100 million ($ 12.7 million).
Still, it costs millions of maintenance costs each year, and about 12 companies and organizations declined the invitation to take over for free, Melco added.
Last month, Jumbo announced that it would leave Hong Kong and wait for a new operator in a private location prior to the expiration of its license in June.
The restaurant departed from a typhoon shelter in southern Hong Kong Island, where I had been sitting for nearly half a century, just before noon last Tuesday.
Opened in 1976 by the late Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho, it is said to have embodied luxury and cost more than HK $ 30 million to build during its glorious era.
Designed like the Imperial Palace in China and once considered a must-see landmark, the restaurant attracted visitors to Tom Cruise from Queen Elizabeth II.
It was also featured in several films, including Steven Soderbergh’s “Infectious” about the deadly pandemic.
Jumbo’s departure from Hong Kong was hit by regret and nostalgia from many Hong Kong residents.
