Mystery over the fate of Hong Kong’s Jumbo Floating Restaurant deepened yesterday after its owner stirred confusion over whether the financially struggling tourist attraction had actually sunk while being towed away from the territory last week.
On Monday, Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises released a statement saying that the vessel had capsized on Sunday near the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) in the South China Sea after it “encountered adverse conditions” and began to take on water.
“The water depth at the scene is over 1,000 metres, making it extremely difficult to carry out salvage works,” it said.
Photo: AFP
On Thursday night, the Hong Kong Marine Department put out a statement saying it had only learned of the incident from media reports, and had immediately requested a report from the company.
The department said that the report was delivered on Thursday, saying the restaurant had capsized, but that “at present, both Jumbo and the tugboat are still in the waters off Xisha Islands.”
Hours later, a journalist was contacted by a spokesman representing the restaurant who said the company had always used the word “capsized” not “sank.”
Asked directly if the boat had sunk, he said again the statement had said “capsized,” and did not explain why it had referred to the depth of the water when mentioning salvage.
The South China Morning Post reported a similar conversation with a spokeswoman for the company, in which she insisted that the vessel had “capsized,” not “sank,” but refused to clarify whether it was still afloat.
The newspaper said it had been told by the Marine Department that the company might have breached local regulations if it had not notified the authorities of a sinking incident within 24 hours.
Widespread reporting in local and international media at the beginning of the week that Jumbo had sunk was not contradicted by the company.
The company previously said that marine engineers had been hired to inspect the floating restaurant and install hoardings on the vessel before the trip, and that “all relevant approvals” had been obtained.
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