According to the Official Wechat news of Nantong Fire, at 16:00 on August 16, 2024, a fire broke out in the dismantling and reconstruction of a waste aircraft carrier along the Yangtze River in the Su-Xi-Tong Science and Technology Park. At present, fire rescue, emergency, public security and other departments are at the scene of full disposal, no injuries, the cause of the accident is under investigation.
It is reported that the fire accident occurred on the aircraft carrier named “Mingsike” (Russian: Минск, English: Minsk Aircraft carrier).
According to public information, the Minsk was the second Soviet Navy’s Type 1143 aircraft carrier. It was the second generation of aircraft carriers developed by the Soviet Navy and the first class of aircraft carriers in the world to carry vertical/short take-off and landing fighters.
Minsk Aircraft carrier started construction on December 28, 1972 at Nikolaev Shipyard, launched on September 30, 1975, commissioned on September 27, 1978 and decommissioned in 1993 then sold to Daewoo Heavy Industries Group of Korea.
In 1998, a Chinese company took over the Minsk and turned it into a military theme park, the Shenzhen Minsk Aircraft Carrier World. In January 2013, Dalian Yongjia Group bought the Minsk aircraft carrier, and in 2014, the group signed an investment agreement with Nantong Su-Tong Science & Technology Park (now Su-Xi-Tong Science and Technology Park) for the carrier tourism resort. In 2016, the Minsk aircraft carrier was transferred from Shenzhen to Nantong and berthed on the west side of the north wing of the Sutong Bridge.