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Chinese bidder fails to buy junked UK aircraft carrier
By Yang Jian |
February 1, 2011, Tuesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
A UK-based Chinese businessman failed to win the bid for a junked aircraft carrier the UK Royal Navy put on auction in December as scrap metal to save huge maintenance cost.
Lam Kin-bong from south China's Guangdong Province offered 5 million pounds (US$8.02 million), more than double the expected price, but still did not win the bid because the British authority said he "failed to provide all the necessary information," Lam told Chinese media yesterday.
"I feel quite disappointed because I planned to turn the warship into a floating international school on the coast of Guangdong," Lam, 48, told the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper.
He said he had organized a professional team, including a British attorney, accountant and consultant to prepare for the bidding, Zhuhai Evening News in Lam's hometown reported.
The light aircraft carrier HMS Invincible was decommissioned in 2005 and was stripped of engines and weapons. The 17,000-ton hull was sold on Disposal Services Agency, an online auction platform under the UK Ministry of Defense.
A Turkish ship recycling factory won the bid at a price Lin said was far lower than his.
Lam who runs a restaurant chain in Birmingham said he would continue bidding for other decommissioned warships on the online platform.
Wen Wei Po said many suspected Lam failed the bidding due to "political reasons." But Lam said his intention was purely commercial.
"My intentions are purely commercial and have nothing to do with the military. We convert it into an international school to help foster communication and cultural ties between China and Britain," he told the newspaper.
Military analysts also said it was unlikely for the warship to go back into service. The hull would have no military use, Song Xiaojun, a well known defense analyst in Beijing told the Zhuhai newspaper.
The aircraft carrier had served for 28 years in naval campaigns including conflicts in the Falklands, Iraq and the Balkans. The 500-metre-long warship could carry 22 warplanes and nearly 1,100 sailors.
Lam Kin-bong from south China's Guangdong Province offered 5 million pounds (US$8.02 million), more than double the expected price, but still did not win the bid because the British authority said he "failed to provide all the necessary information," Lam told Chinese media yesterday.
"I feel quite disappointed because I planned to turn the warship into a floating international school on the coast of Guangdong," Lam, 48, told the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper.
He said he had organized a professional team, including a British attorney, accountant and consultant to prepare for the bidding, Zhuhai Evening News in Lam's hometown reported.
The light aircraft carrier HMS Invincible was decommissioned in 2005 and was stripped of engines and weapons. The 17,000-ton hull was sold on Disposal Services Agency, an online auction platform under the UK Ministry of Defense.
A Turkish ship recycling factory won the bid at a price Lin said was far lower than his.
Lam who runs a restaurant chain in Birmingham said he would continue bidding for other decommissioned warships on the online platform.
Wen Wei Po said many suspected Lam failed the bidding due to "political reasons." But Lam said his intention was purely commercial.
"My intentions are purely commercial and have nothing to do with the military. We convert it into an international school to help foster communication and cultural ties between China and Britain," he told the newspaper.
Military analysts also said it was unlikely for the warship to go back into service. The hull would have no military use, Song Xiaojun, a well known defense analyst in Beijing told the Zhuhai newspaper.
The aircraft carrier had served for 28 years in naval campaigns including conflicts in the Falklands, Iraq and the Balkans. The 500-metre-long warship could carry 22 warplanes and nearly 1,100 sailors.
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