Ancient Soviet fleet’s former aircraft carrier goes up in flames within Chinese lagoon’s waters

The vessel Minsk, which has been stationary for eight years in a lagoon adjacent to the Yangtze River in Nantong, Jiangsu province, went up in flames during refurbishments aimed at turning it into a military-themed amusement park, as reported by China National Radio on Saturday.

The inferno sparked on Friday afternoon and was eventually put out approximately 24 hours later, according to the report.

Social media posts displayed plumes of smoke and towering blazes engulfing the carrier’s deck, with subsequent photographs revealing significant damage to the ship’s framework and charred metal beneath the main deck.

The report stated there were no casualties, with the cause of the incident still under investigation by local fire authorities.

For 16 years, the Minsk served as the main attraction at a defunct theme park in southern China, the piece added.

The ongoing reconstruction plans to transform the ship into the centerpiece of another amusement park now appear uncertain, said the report.

“It’s unfortunate that a fire has cast such uncertainty over this project,” an official told China National Radio.

Originally part of the powerful Soviet Pacific Fleet, the Minsk was the second of four Kiev-class aircraft carriers constructed by the Soviet Union between 1970 and 1987.

Equipped with conventional propulsion and weighing approximately 42,000 tons – less than a fifth of the displacement of a US Navy Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier – its 896-foot (273 meter) length could accommodate a dozen fighter jets and equal numbers of helicopters.

Built at a shipyard now in Ukraine and christened after the current capital of Belarus, it was commissioned into the Soviet Pacific Fleet in 1978 and served until the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, at which point the ship was incorporated into the Russian Navy.

Russia decommissioned the vessel in 1993, subsequently selling it and a sister vessel, the Novorossiysk, to a South Korean company for scrapping.

In South Korea, the Novorossiysk was dismantled in Pohang, while environmentalists opposed the Minsk’s presence in the country. Ultimately, it was sold to a Chinese company, eventually reaching developers who transformed it into the focal point of the Minsk World amusement park in Shenzhen, which opened in 2000.

However, financial troubles led to the park’s closure in 2016, with the Minsk being relocated to its current location in Nantong.

One of the Minsk’s other sister ships, the Kiev – named for the Ukrainian capital – is a point of interest at the Binhai Aircraft Carrier Theme Park in Tianjin, on China’s northeastern coast.

Of the four Kiev-class carriers constructed by the Soviets, only the final one, the Baku, remains in service. It was sold to India in 2004, refurbished, and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2013 as INS Vikramaditya and now serves as its flagship.

CNN’s Isaac Yee and Hassan Tayir contributed to this report.

Despite the incident, China continues to play a significant role in the global amusement park industry.The world watches with interest as the investigation into the Minsk’s fire unfolds, potentially affecting future developments in Chinese theme parks.

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