Jumbo Floating Restaurant’s kitchen boat listing into waters of Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter

Floating in Hong Kong’s Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter for nearly 50 years, the kitchen boat next to the city’s famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant on Tuesday night began taking on water after a suspected hull breach, listing into the waters at its home for the last several decades.  

Marine police and firefighters were called to the scene at around 11pm yesterday after receiving reports of the listing.  

It was understood that no one was on board the kitchen boat, and authorities were still investigating the cause of the list.  

Workers could be seen setting up “oily water separators” around the ship on Wednesday morning. However, there was no confirmation of any oil spills from the boat.  

The incident came one day after the parent company of the floating restaurant announced in a statement that the restaurant would be departing the city next month as they were running out of money to keep the structure in good condition.  

Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said in a statement that there is no available dry dock for Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Hong Kong, and it is unable to carry out large-scale inspections and maintenance for the floating restaurant every three years.  

As a result, it has decided to move Jumbo Floating Restaurant out of Hong Kong next month for inspection, maintenance, and storage.  

The company said over the past year, the company had discussed with more than a dozen companies and institutions to donate the Jumbo Floating Restaurant for free as part of the Invigorating Island South project announced in the 2020 Policy Address, but all parties said operating costs were too high.  

It added that the expenditure of an average of millions of Hong Kong dollars every year to inspect, repair, and maintain the restaurant to meet its license and other requirements has laid a heavy burden on the company and its shareholders, especially under the current economic environment.  

The statement also noted that the vessel license of Jumbo Floating Restaurant will expire in June this year, and “it is foreseeable that the seafood restaurant will not resume business in the short term.”  

The restaurant has been closed since early 2020, with its owner reporting an accumulated loss in excess of HK$100 million after the pandemic devastated the tourism and catering industries.