2022 capsizing
According to Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises (ARE), the Jumbo Floating Restaurant had been unprofitable since 2013 and had accumulated losses exceeding HK$100 million as of 2022. On 30 May 2022, the company announced that the restaurant would leave Hong Kong in June 2022. ARE's offers to donate it were not successful as all interested parties cited high operating costs, which can run up to millions of Hong Kong dollars annually.[29] Because its operating licence with the Marine Department was due to expire, and there was no berth available, ARE decided to have the restaurant towed out of Hong Kong and wait for better prospects.[30] At roughly 11pm on 31 May, the kitchen boat of the restaurant began listing following a hull breach. It happened as preparations were being made to tow the restaurant.[31] The restaurant barge was eventually towed out of Hong Kong on 14 June, though the kitchen boat and Tai Pak were left behind.[32] Its destination was Cambodia according to the Marine Department, but this has not been confirmed by ARE.[33] The company said that before the tow, the restaurant was inspected, hoardings were installed, and all relevant approvals were obtained.
On 18 June 2022, while being towed in the South China Sea, the restaurant experienced bad weather and began listing. Despite rescue efforts, it fully capsized the next day near the Paracel Islands in waters over 1000 metres deep.[34] Amidst speculations that the boat had sunk, the Hong Kong Marine Department requested a report from ARE, which issued a statement saying that the tug and restaurant were still in the waters and that it had always used the term "capsized", not "sunk".[4][35] In August, the Maritime Safety Administration of Hainan said the boat had keeled over and was trapped on a reef near Sansha.[36] In March 2023, Oriental Daily News reported that there was plan to lift Jumbo's kitchen boat. It had partially sunk in the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelters shortly before the main restaurant barge was towed away.[37]
Tourism lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said the loss was of the city's heritage, adding that the "government, conservationists, historians and the commercial sector should be working together to protect" historic sites but everyone had "stalled too long."[4] Other lawmakers in Hong Kong requested an investigation of the South Korean tug boat company to determine whether there was human error or malpractice involved.[4] The company, which employed a South Korean crew, has denied allegations of foul play.[38] In 2021, the same tugboat, Jaewon 9, was involved in an incident where the vessel that it was towing sank after the towing line broke.[39] Commentators from the fishing and shipbuilding industries said that a safer method would have been using a semi-submersible ship, like the ones that transported Sea Palace to Manila Bay and Tsingtao.[40] The market availability of such vessels is low, however, and the price for their service can be prohibitive. The chairman of Yun Lee Marine Group said he does not know of any owners of semi-submersibles in Hong Kong. Some pointed out that the restaurant is top heavy due to its multi-story superstructure and that towing it outside to the high seas should have called for extra precautions.
A digital, three-dimensional model of Jumbo has been created by a student, Shiu Ka-heng.[42] He fed photographs of the boat's exterior into a computer program that transformed them into models viewable using virtual reality goggles. Shiu hopes to archive pieces of Hong Kong history, such as the State Theatre that is undergoing revamp, and said that anyone can use his online platform to turn images into virtual models.[43]
