The Marine Department says the owner of the Jumbo floating restaurant boat has informed it that the vessel remains in waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea after its capsize on Saturday, though it gave no indication of whether it is still afloat.

The department made the comments in a response to media enquiries on Thursday night, saying it knew nothing of the incident involving the Jumbo until it saw the media reports.

"MD had not received any notification from the ship owner prior to media reporting about Jumbo's sinking," a spokesman said.

"After learning about the media reports, MD immediately requested Jumbo's owner to submit a written report. Today, MD received the written report from the agent appointed by Jumbo's owner.

The spokesman added: "According to the information provided by the ship owner, on the night of June 18, when Jumbo was being towed by ocean-going tugboat 'JAEWON 9' in the vicinity of Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, Jumbo capsized due to adverse weather.

"At present, both Jumbo and the tugboat are still in the waters off Xisha Islands. The ship owner will continue to follow up on the incident."

The 46-year-old floating restaurant was once a prominent tourist spot off the waters of Aberdeen, but high maintenance costs and dwindling business forced it to close in March 2020.

It was being tugged to an undisclosed location, reportedly in Cambodia, for storage. The company earlier said any salvage operation would be difficult given the deep waters the vessel was in.