Hongkong - The Jumbo Kingdom, Hongkong’s iconic floating restaurant, sunk just days after it was towed away from the harbour where it operated for nearly 50 years.

The Jumbo restaurant capsized in the South China Sea while being towed away last Tuesday, to an undisclosed location, its parent company said.

The restaurant encountered “adverse conditions” on Saturday 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, according to Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises Ltd.

The company said it was "very saddened by the incident" but that no crew members were injured. It also said that prior to its departure, the vessel had been thoroughly inspected by marine engineers and hoardings were installed, and all relevant approvals were obtained.

The restaurant which closed in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hit, had not been profitable since 2013.

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant, almost 80 meters (260 feet) in length, had been a landmark in Hong Kong for over four decades. More than 3 million guests are believed to have relished its Cantonese cuisine over the years, including the Queen, Tom Cruise and Richard Branson.

The Restaurant appears in several movies such as Jackie Chan's The Protector, Infernal Affairs II and Contagion, James Bond film the Man with the Golden Gun.

The Jumbo Kingdom is not the only remarkable vessel to have met an unlikely end this week.

The massive cruise ship, Global Dream II, which was intended to be one of the world's biggest cruise ships capable of carrying 9,000 people in 2,500 cabins is likely to be sold for scrap because no one wants to buy it.