Hong Kong’s Jumbo Seafood Boat: What’s involved in a South China Sea shipwreck – BBC News

Jumbo Seafood Restaurant was built in Hong Kong in 1971, but it was destroyed by fire before opening. It was then purchased by Macau “gambling king” Stanley Ho and Hong Kong real estate businessman Zheng Yutong, and officially opened on October 19, 1976. The Marine Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China stated that Jumbo is a floating restaurant and holds a Hong Kong “Class I Vessel” operating license, that is, it belongs to the same ship category as passenger ferries such as the Star Ferry, and the license was valid at the time of the incident.

According to the information provided by the Marine Department to BBC Chinese, according to the terms of the operating license, the Jumbo Seafood Boat can carry a maximum of 1,746 passengers, and the total number of passengers cannot exceed 1,966; Meters, 25 meters wide, equivalent to a nearly nine-storey building.

The Marine Department stated that the latest annual inspection of Jumbo Seafood Boat was completed in June 2021. In other words, its annual inspection expires in June 2022.

Although its license is the same as that of a passenger ship in the port, the Jumbo Seafood Boat is actually a barge, which has no engine and cannot sail on its own.

Li Jianguang, a senior marine marine engineer, told the BBC Chinese reporter: “Obviously, because there is a restaurant on the pontoon, many people are involved in meals, and it also involves all considerations such as fire escape, so the requirements for this pontoon will be higher than that of general cargo. Barges are much more demanding.”

Before the accident sank, Jumbo Seafood Restaurant was owned by the Aberdeen Catering Group under the name of Melco International, a Hong Kong-listed company. He Youlong, the youngest son of He Hongshen, the chairman and chief executive of Melco International.

On June 14, Jumbo Seafood Boat was towed away from its base, the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter on the south side of Hong Kong Island. The owner of the ship said at the time that the boat would be sent to Southeast Asia for maintenance, but the exact location could not be disclosed.

In the middle of the night on June 20, Aberdeen Catering Group issued a statement announcing that on the afternoon of the 18th, the Jumbo Seafood Ship “encountered wind and waves, and the ship entered the water and began to tip over”. In the waters near the Paracel Islands, it “overturned completely into the water”.

There were no casualties in the capsizing accident, but “due to the depth of the incident site exceeding 1,000 meters, it is also very difficult to carry out salvage works.”

The owner’s statement said: “According to the requirements of the regulations, before leaving the port, the Jumbo Seafood Ship has hired professional marine engineers to inspect the hull and hoardings in detail, and obtained all necessary approvals for this voyage.”

The BBC Chinese reporter has twice emailed the public relations representative of the Aberdeen Catering Group, including the coordinates of the incident location and the name of the tugboat company.

After a noisy day in the Hong Kong media, the Marine Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region issued a statement on the evening of June 21, confirming for the first time that the Aberdeen Catering Group applied for the Jumbo Seafood Ship to leave Hong Kong on the 13th and tow it from Hong Kong waters to Cambodia. It is also said that the shipowner did not report the sinking to the government, and the Marine Department also learned about the incident from media reports, and then asked the shipowner to submit a written report and would initiate an investigation.

The Marine Department said: “The shipowner has hired a survey agency to conduct relevant inspections to ensure that the treasure is suitable for tow from Hong Kong to the relevant destination. The Marine Department has issued a port clearance after reviewing the relevant information, allowing the treasure to depart from Aberdeen South on June 14. The berthing location of the typhoon shelter was towed away from Hong Kong waters.”

The Marine Department confirmed that when the Jumbo Seafood Ship left the port, the authorities sent a ship to monitor, “during which no abnormal situation was found.”

The Marine Department also added: “Generally speaking, the towed vessel will not have personnel on board, and the tugboat will monitor the towed vessel’s condition and take appropriate action when necessary. As for the towing method, the owner will Decision. As for the salvage of the vessel, it is generally handled by the owner.”

Li Jianguang commented to the BBC Chinese that he thought the Marine Department’s statement was reasonable: “I think they have done everything they can.”

The Hong Kong media quickly found the tugboat company that was responsible for towing the boat away from the typhoon shelter, the profit margin marine group. According to “Ming Pao”, Wen Zijie, chairman and executive director of Runli Group, said that their two tugboats were only responsible for towing voyages in Hong Kong waters. Take over by another ocean tug company.

Wen Zijie also told the “Sky Post” that they had visually inspected the boat before towing it away, and found no damage or tipping into the water, and there was no abnormality when handing over to the ocean tug company. , dragging seafood boats away from inspection every two years, most recently two years ago when “everything was normal”.

Wen Zijie is also the chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electric Boat Tug Association. BBC Chinese reporters have tried to contact him through the Chamber of Commerce, but have not received a response by press time.

So far, disputes over sovereignty between China and neighboring countries in the South China Sea have not been resolved. Among them, Vietnam has claimed sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, known as the Hoang Sa Islands. Beijing did not recognize it, and in July 2012, it established the management of Sansha City, Hainan Province. The sinking of the Zhenbao Seafood Boat has been widely reported by mainland Chinese media, but so far there has been no comment from the Hainan province or Sansha city maritime authorities.

Li Jianguang pointed out: “If the incident happened on the high seas, then theoretically no one else (government agency) would ask him (the owner) to submit a report. The barge was approved by the Hong Kong Marine Department to go out, so it went out. In the event of such an accident, the Hong Kong Marine Department has the right to request the shipowner or tugboat company to provide a report.”

Still, the fact that the wreck is in disputed waters has attracted the attention of Hong Kong commentators.

It was October 2016, which was the first time I visited Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, a family leisure program. Now this is the only visit of a lifetime.

I can’t remember the exact cost at that time, but it must have been over a thousand Hong Kong dollars per person. However, it is a wing room after all, which is expected. This is not because we specifically asked to sit in the wing when we boarded the ship, but the waiter did not take us to the large dining room. The shipowner stated that Jumbo has been losing money since 2013. In retrospect, the action of the waiter seems to explain the passenger flow at that time.

Now I should regret several things: I didn’t pay much attention to the history of the seafood boat at that time, and I didn’t even think of taking pictures of “designated attractions” such as dragon chairs. This is clearly a failed “freedom”. But I feel that the dining is not lost, the wing room is bright and elegant, and the night view of the typhoon shelter outside the window is acceptable.

There are actually two boat piers in Jumbo Kingdom. Besides the waterfront of Aberdeen, there is also a deep bay pier with a parking lot. The author and his party entered and exited from the Shenwan Wharf because of the driving, and the place was very deserted in memory.

Some netizens on Facebook believe that the treasure belongs to the only remaining representative of the neon light tube signboard in Hong Kong. Neon light tubes were very popular around the 1970s and 1990s, but today’s large signboards on both sides of Victoria Harbour have long been replaced by LED lighting and giant video screens. Although the treasures are not topped, Taibai is still there, and in comparison, Taibai Seafood Boat is old and stronger, but netizens and commentators may have a reason to describe the sinking of the ship as “the end of an era”.

After the news of the sinking of the ship was announced, rumors were flying in the Hong Kong online community, and speculations from all parties were either conclusive or ironic. Sing Tao Daily reported that: “Some netizens asked why the incident developed so ‘coincidence’, some netizens laughed and said ‘the script has been written (early)’, and some people described ‘the berth was originally on the bottom of the sea’ (the berthing location It was originally at the bottom of the sea).” The Hong Kong Economic Journal reported that some netizens criticized the forcible dragging of the Jubao Seafood Boat out of the high seas as “murder.”

Ming Pao quoted Situ Jiacheng, former head of the East Asia region of the British Institute of Marine Engineering and Maritime Science and Technology, as saying that the seafood boat is large, and the ideal way is to tow it in the form of an inland boat within 15 nautical miles of the coast. Drag it to the shore as soon as possible.” He was puzzled that the seafood boat was “dragged out to sea”.

The issue of compensation after the sinking of the Zhenbao Seafood Boat has also attracted attention. “Sing Tao Daily” quoted Mai Shunbang, chairman of the Hong Kong Insurance Professionals Association, as saying that even though the boat has experienced more than 40 years of depreciation, “a rotten boat still has three pounds of nails”, and the estimated insured amount is at least 100 million Hong Kong dollars (12.74 million US dollars; 85.38 million yuan). RMB) or more.

However, Mai Shunbang has reservations about whether any insurance company is willing to underwrite it, on the grounds that the ocean-going towed treasure seafood boat is “highly risky, very high”, and there is a great chance of sinking in the middle. It turns out that the voyage ended in the sinking of the boat.

However, “sinking risk” is also the focus of questioning by netizens and public opinion. Netizens and media have successively quoted the Hong Kong Observatory’s weather report on the South China Sea on June 18, pointing out that the wind force in the Xisha waters was between two and three on the Beaufort wind force scale, that is, light (the China Meteorological Administration said). Gentle wind) or gentle (breezy), questioning why Jumbo Seafood Restaurant “meeted the wind and waves”.

“Ming Pao” quoted Liang Rongwu, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Meteorological Society, as saying that in general, secondary winds can cause waves of up to about half a meter, and there is not much risk to navigation, so he estimated that the state of the hull of the seafood boat may have been unstable; Island Daily quoted Yang Runguang, chairman of the Hong Kong International Fisheries Federation, as saying that he estimated that the necessary steps such as sealing the cabin were not done before departure, so that the hull could enter the water faster.

Ta Kung Pao, the official newspaper under the leadership of the Liaison Office of the Central Government of China in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Liaison Office), quoted Zhang Shaoqiang, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, as saying that the weather in the waters near the Paracel Islands could be unpredictable, and there may be a sudden appearance of the so-called “Da Shihu Lake”. “The strong gust of wind, and the huge waves turned up. In the past, many fishing boats have been overturned and sunk.

The Hong Kong Underwater Archaeology Association Chairman Hu Mingchuan questioned whether the tugboat company tried to call for help, because according to the owner, the seafood boat entered the water on June 18 and capsized on the 19th.

Hu Mingchuan said: “Usually, people will immediately report or call the police if the water enters the water. Now that the communication is developed, it is enough to have a radio or a satellite phone.”

In addition to the weather, whether the hull of the Jumbo Seafood Boat is strong enough has also been scrutinized by public opinion. Qian Song C, a former financial columnist for Hong Kong’s “Apple Daily”, quoted an old employee of the Seafood Boat in his blog as saying that the Seafood Boat had only replaced the bottom of the boat about six years ago.

The old employee said: “If the ship is so easy to sink and it is not safe, it will not be able to be towed out for maintenance. It will not sink for 50 years.”

Li Jianguang, a senior marine marine engineer, pointed out to the BBC Chinese that the tugboat company must make a detailed plan in advance, including the sailing route, the number of tugboats used, the number of sailing days and the weather forecast during the period. However, different from the fact that the flight crew must report the coordinates of each flight segment in the flight plan, the regulatory authority will not require detailed knowledge of the proposed navigation route.

Li Jianguang also said that the boat itself should have a water pump, which can pump water, but this means that crew members must be deployed on duty on the boat. However, whether or not to configure it is purely a decision of the shipowner. “Then this time, it is obvious that the shipowner decided not to send someone on duty on the barge, which means that the facilities on it are useless.”

“To use a term, it’s that they hauled it as a ‘dead ship’.”

The online media “Hong Kong 01” reported that the ocean-going tug that took over the hauling of the treasure seafood boat should be the South Korean “Jaewon 9” (transliteration). Leaving Hong Kong on 14th, the next port reported is Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Ship tracking website MarineTraffic shows that the “Zaiyuan 9” ship came to the west of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour from Zhoushan, Zhejiang on June 12, and wandered in the waterway between Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island on the 14th, which coincided with the departure time of Zhenbao Seafood Boat. At 20:54 Beijing time (12:54 GMT) on June 18, the vessel “Zaiyuan 9” suddenly turned back about 144 kilometers southwest of Yongxing Island in Xisha (called Fulin Island in Vietnam), and remained for the next 24 hours. Wandering there, I believe this is where the treasure seafood boat sank. After 23:51 GMT on the 19th, “Zaiyuan 9” never updated its position.

According to the Hong Kong Marine Department’s departure records, “Zai Yuan 9” is represented by Wuhang Asia (S5 Asia), which is a member of the British Wuhang Global Shipping Agency (S5 Agency World). The reporter of “Hong Kong 01” went to Wuhang Asia Office to interview but was rejected.

The BBC Chinese reporter tried to inquire about the information of the “Zaiyuan 9” from the London Wuhang Global Shipping Agency. The other party said that he did not know, but provided the contact information of Hong Kong Wuhang Asia. The BBC Chinese reporter then called Doris Yau, general manager of Wuhang Asia.

“Sorry, I have nothing to comment, because I am not responsible for this either. I think you are looking for the wrong person. Maybe you are looking for the relevant person.” After saying this, Doris Yau hung up immediately.

In an email sent to the public relations representative of the Aberdeen Food Group, the BBC Chinese reporter asked the other party to respond to speculations about the sinking of the ship. So far, no reply has been received.

The ship sank into the sea. Although the Jumbo Seafood Boat had no power, after all, machinery such as pumps needed electricity, which meant that there were generators on the boat, and therefore petroleum products such as diesel oil and lubricating oil, which meant that it would cause oil pollution.

The BBC’s Chinese reporter asked Greenpeace’s Hong Kong office how much it would affect the marine ecology of the wreck area. Greenpeace said the information was too limited to comment. The Hong Kong branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) also declined to comment. Li Jianguang believes that the oil pollution of the Jumbo Seafood Boat has limited impact on the environment.

The Jumbo Seafood Boat does not operate independently. It, together with the Taibai Seafood Boat with a history of more than 70 years, as well as several support ships such as kitchen boats, form the Jumbo Kingdom Sea Restaurant. Boarding a boat from the waterfront of Aberdeen is one of its major features.

On the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) in 2020, the new coronavirus epidemic hit, and the seafood restaurant began to reduce its business hours. On March 3 of the same year, Jumbo Kingdom announced that it would suspend business until further notice.

In October of the same year, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, put forward the project of “Moving the South of Hong Kong Island” in his new policy address, and said that the owner of the Jumbo Seafood Boat has promised to donate the boat to the Hong Kong Ocean Park held by the SAR government for free. Part of the planned development of the “Ocean Park Regeneration Plan”. In 2021, Ocean Park stated that it could not find a suitable third-party organization to operate the seafood boat and could not implement the donation plan.

At the end of May 2022, Aberdeen Catering Group announced that it would arrange for Jumbo Seafood Restaurant to leave Hong Kong in June. Seven members of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including Guan Haoming, initiated a joint signature requesting the SAR government to develop a revitalization plan for Jumbo Seafood Restaurant as soon as possible. However, Carrie Lam believes that the decision of Seafood Fang to leave Hong Kong is “unreasonable”.

Aberdeen Catering Group said in a statement at the time that Jumbo Kingdom has been unable to make ends meet since 2013. Coupled with the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Jumbo Kingdom has accumulated losses of more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars. Since the closure of Jumbo due to the epidemic, the group still has to spend millions of Hong Kong dollars every year inspecting, repairing and maintaining its boats to meet its licensing requirements and other requirements. As the maritime license of Zhenbao Seafood Restaurant will expire in June, the Group foresees that it is impossible for Zhenbao Seafood Restaurant to resume business in the short term.

The news of the sinking of the Jumbo Seafood Boat has been lamented by many due to its pop culture status. Li Jianguang told the BBC Chinese reporter: “If the place where it sank really goes that deep, it can be said that it cannot be salvaged. Even if you can salvage it, it is not like the prototype and is meaningless. For many Hong Kong people, It can only be the object of remembrance.”

Speaking of the characteristics of the Jumbo Seafood Boat, Li Jianguang thought about it for a while and said, “That’s the emperor’s chair! I think most people like to sit on it when they get on the boat to eat, and take pictures with the family. This is also the characteristic of the place. “

Jumbo Seafood Restaurant has hosted many celebrities, but the most frequently mentioned is the Queen of England, who visited Jumbo in 1975 when she visited Hong Kong, then a British territory. Films shot on this boat include Bruce Lee’s 1973 work “Dragon and Tiger Fight”, and the 1974 007 series “The Man with the Golden Gun” (The Man with the Golden Gun; Hong Kong is called “The Iron King vs. The Golden Gun”; Taiwan is called “007” : The Man with the Golden Gun”) and Stephen Chow’s 1996 work “God of Cookery”, etc. At the beginning of 2022, the well-known Hong Kong boy group Mirror filmed the New Year’s MV for Malaysia’s Astro Broadcasting Company, which became the last film and television production to be filmed on the Jumbo Seafood Boat.

But the existence of Jumbo Seafood appears to be another politically incorrect symbol of the colonial era. Dr. Zhao Shanxuan, a Hong Kong historian and video blogger who has moved to the UK, commented: “Jumbo Seafood Restaurant and Taibai Seafood Restaurant witness an era – an era when Hong Kong’s Chinese and Western cultures converged. Its architecture, the murals, tea sets, and dragon chairs in it. Seats are traditional Chinese cultural features, but many of its meals and designs cater to Western tourists’ impression of oriental curiosity.”

Dr. Huang Jiahao, an archaeologist and columnist under the pseudonym Songhuajiazi, wrote in the Hong Kong Economic Journal: “The seafood boat, as a symbol of the colonial era, shows a stereotyped Western prejudice against China: vulgar and piled-up ornate buildings, curious-looking. The oriental charm. Sitting in such a painting boat that only the royal family could enjoy, the sense of cultural superiority of the Westerners arises spontaneously.”

Huang Jiahao wrote: “Remembering the scenery of the colonies is incompatible with our era that emphasizes the pride of the Chinese nation and national identity, and the seafood boat is not worthy of conservation. A friend suggested alternative conservation: the seafood boat should be pulled into deep water and scuttled. It not only makes it a habitat for underwater fish, but also a treasure wreck for divers to explore.”

Some netizens and commentators also showed optimism in this direction when expressing their condolences to Zhenbao Seafood Restaurant.