Iconic Hong Kong Jumbo floating restaurant capsizes at sea

A colossal, multi-storey floating restaurant that was a landmark in Hong Kong, has sunk in the South China Sea, less than a week after it was towed away from Hong Kong.

Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said that the restaurant encountered “adverse conditions” on Saturday (18 June) as it was passing the Xisha Islands, also known as the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea, and water entered the vessel and it began to tip.

The company said that efforts to save the vessel failed and it capsized on Sunday 19 June.

The restaurant had been filmed (see below) being towed away from Hong Kong harbour where it operated for nearly 50 years. It was to travel to an undisclosed location to await a new operator.

The Jumbo floating restaurant was travelling to an undisclosed location, parent company Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said.

“As the water depth at the scene is over 1,000 meters, (it makes it) extremely difficult to carry out salvage works,” the company said in a statement.