Jumbo Floating Restaurant：Doubts over south China Sea shipwreck

In the past two years or so, COVID-19 has occurred at the Hong Kong Jumbo Kingdom . The ship’s owner recently announced that it would remove the boat and send it to another place for repair. The Jumbo Kingdom sank near the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea on June 19, 2022, and is expected to rest at a depth of 1,000 meters, according to its owner.

Hong Kong people don’t necessarily have strong feelings about it, but this boat, widely described by the media as “the world’s largest restaurant on the sea”, is decorated with a carved marble boat inside and outside, just like the skyscrapers in Central. It has been “immobilis” Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter for 45 years. Why the boat sinks, first of all, whether it will be dragged to the vast sea, immediately become a hot topic in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong government’s shipping department said it only learned of the sinking after it was disclosed to the media and has asked the ship owner to submit a report. But two days later, authorities added to the confusion when they said they had received reports from the ship’s owner that the boat and the boat were still “on the surface” of paracel waters.

From a dining hall that has hosted the Queen of England and filmed Chinese and Western blockbusters, to a sunken ship in the South China Sea, treasure seafood restaurant is involved in a variety of things.

The Treasure Seafood Restaurant was built in Hong Kong in 1971, but was destroyed by fire before opening. It was purchased by Stanley Ho, the Gambling king of Macao, and Cheng Yu-tung, the Hong Kong real estate businessman. It was rebuilt and officially opened on October 19, 1976. The Marine Department of the Hong Kong SAR said jewel was a floating restaurant and held a Hong Kong “Class I vessel” operating licence, which is the same as passenger ferries such as the Star Ferry, and was valid at the time of the incident.

According to the Marine Department, under the terms of its operating licence, the Treasure Seafood Restaurant can carry a maximum of 1,746 passengers and a maximum of 1,966 passengers; The boat is 28 meters tall, 79 meters long and 25 meters wide, equivalent to a nearly nine-story building, the newspaper said, citing the ship’s owner.

The most recent annual inspection was completed in June 2021, the Marine Department said. In other words, the annual inspection will expire in June 2022.
Though licensed the same as a passenger ship in Hong Kong, the Treasure Seafood Boat is essentially a barge that has no engine and can’t sail on its own.

“Obviously, because it’s a restaurant, there’s a lot of people eating, there’s a fire escape and everything, it’s going to be a lot more demanding than a normal cargo barge,” said Lee Kin-kwong, a senior Marine engineer.

Before it sank, The Restaurant was owned by The Aberdeen Restaurant Group, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Melco International. Melco’s chairman and chief executive is Lawrence Ho, the youngest son of Stanley Ho’s second wife.

On June 14, the Treasure Seafood Boat was towed away from its base in Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, south of Hong Kong Island. The ship’s owner said at the time that it would send the boat to Southeast Asia for repair, but could not disclose the specific location.

On the night of June 20, Aberdeen Catering Group issued a statement, announced treasure Seafood Fang 18 afternoon in the towing on the way “encountered wind and waves, the ship began to tilt into the water,” responsible for the towing company tried to rescue failed, in the waters near the Xisha Islands on the 19th “fully overturned into the water.”

There were no casualties, but “it is very difficult to carry out salvage work as the water depth at the site is more than 1,000 metres”.

“According to the requirements of the regulations, before leaving Hong Kong, We hired professional Marine engineers to inspect the hull and add coaming, and got all the necessary approvals for this voyage,” the ship’s owner said in a statement.

After a day of media uproar in Hong Kong, the Marine Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) issued a statement on the evening of June 21, confirming for the first time that the Aberdeen Restaurant Group applied on June 13 for the Treasure Seafood Boat to be towed from Hong Kong waters to Cambodia the following day. It also said that the ship owner did not report the sinking to the government, and that the Marine Department learned of the incident from media reports, and then asked the ship owner to submit a written report, and will initiate an investigation.

The Marine Department said: “The shipowner has engaged a surveyor to conduct a survey to ensure that the treasure is fit to be towed from Hong Kong to the destination concerned. After reviewing the relevant information, the Marine Department issued an exit permit allowing the treasure to be towed out of Hong Kong waters from its berth at Aberdeen South Shelter on 14 June.”

The Marine Department confirmed that vessels were dispatched to monitor the departure of the Treasure Seafood Boat and “no abnormal conditions were found”.
“Generally speaking, the vessel being towed will not have personnel on board. The tugboat will monitor the situation of the vessel being towed and take appropriate action when necessary,” the Department said. The method of towage to be used is at the discretion of the shipowner. The salvage of the vessel is normally handled by the shipowner.”

Mr. Lee commented that he thought the Marine department’s argument was reasonable: “I think they’ve done everything they can.”
Two days later, the Marine Department announced late Wednesday night that it had received a report from the owner confirming the capsizing of the seafood boat. But the statement added: “At present, Treasure and the tugboat are still in the waters around the Xisha Islands, and the owner will continue to follow up the disposal.”

News of the sinking of the Treasure Seafood Boat was lamented by many because of its pop culture status. Mr Lee told BBC Chinese: “If it’s really that deep, it’s unsalvageable, and even if you could, it would be unauthentic and meaningless. For many Hong Kong people, it is only a memorial.”

Speaking of the characteristics of treasure seafood Fang, Li Jianguang thought for a moment and said: “the emperor chair! I think most people like to sit on the boat when they have dinner and take a family photo. That’s what it’s all about.”

The restaurant has played host to countless celebrities, but the one most commonly mentioned is the Queen, who visited Jewel in 1975 when she toured Hong Kong, then a British territory. Movies shot on The boat include Bruce Lee’s 1973 ‘Enter The Dragon’ and The 1974 James Bond film ‘The Man with The Golden Gun. Hong Kong called “The Iron Man vs. the Golden Gun”; James Bond: The Man with the Golden Gun) and Stephen Chow’s 1996 film God of Food. In early 2022, Mirror, a popular Hong Kong boy band, became the last film and television production to shoot a lunar New Year MV for Malaysian broadcaster Astro.