The retired Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk on Wednesday was sold for 128.3 million yuan (US$16 million) at an auction in Shenzhen, in south China.

Luo Yuanqing, the selling agent, said the carrier was bought by CITIC Shenzhen Group at the reserve price.

Luo said there were three potential buyers at the auction, but only CITIC Shenzhen Group bid.

The Minsk came on the market in March when former owner Minsk World Industries Co., Ltd. went bankrupt after converting the ship into a floating theme park in Shenzhen.

The company abandoned an earlier auction after three potential buyers failed to offer the reserve price.

Guo Zhirong, general manager of CITIC Shenzhen Group, said the group would invest further in developing the carrier while maintaining its military style. Detailed plans for the vessel would be published within a month.

The theme park is still operating and drew 33,000 visitors in seven days during the Spring Festival holiday.

Construction of the Minsk began in 1972 and it went into service six years later. It was retired in the early 1990s and sold to a firm in the Republic of Korea in 1995 for scrap before being sold on to the Chinese company.

After 16 months of costly renovations, the ship was turned into a military theme park with restaurants, beauty salons and performances.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2006)