Former Soviet aircraft carrier "Minsk" catches fire in China

The former Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk, which was sold to Chinese entrepreneurs back in 1998, caught fire in China.

Here's What We Know

The Chinese newspaper The Paper reported that the aircraft carrier caught fire during repairs. During the dismantling and renovation of the aircraft carrier on the Yangtze River, the ship caught fire.

The fire reportedly started on 16 August at around 16:00 local time. No one was reportedly injured in the fire.

It is worth noting that the Minsk aircraft carrier once belonged to the USSR Navy. It was sold to the South Korean company Daewoo Heavy Industries Group when it was decommissioned in 1993. Five years later, the Chinese company bought the carrier from the Koreans and built a military theme park in the Yantian district of Shenzhen.

In 2013, the Dalian Yongjia Group acquired the aircraft carrier and subsequently signed an agreement to invest in a tourist resort on the carrier with a scientific and technical industrial park. Three years later, Minsk was moved from Shenzhen to Nantong. The aircraft carrier was placed for tourists in the Susitun Park.

Inside the aircraft carrier museum, the cabins and combat stations are decorated as they once were, and there are stands informing about the ship's combat journey and the history of aircraft carrier construction.

Source: The Paper