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Hong Kong’s swooning duck ready to return to Victoria Harbour after completing reliability tests at shipyard

  • Workers raced to repair giant rubber duck which was deflated because its surface stretched in hot weather
  • Viewers express disappointment over missing out on ‘double the happiness’, but still visit to take photographs

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Workers try to repair the deflated giant rubber duck at a shipyard in Tsing Yi. Photo: Sam Tsang

A giant duck that was part of a pair floating in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour completed reliability tests and was ready to join its twin after being deflated for repair and maintenance amid sweltering weather, the organiser said on Sunday.

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The studio behind “The Double Ducks by Florentijn Hofman” art show said it was forced to deflate one of the duo on Saturday because its surface had stretched in the hot weather.

At a dockyard in Tsing Yi, the deflated duck was reduced to a gigantic flat piece of plastic resembling an egg yolk, with nearly 10 workers racing to repair it before it was reinflated.
Visitors take pictures with the lone duck floating in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. Photo: May Tse
Visitors take pictures with the lone duck floating in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. Photo: May Tse

“The team has been prepared to respond to any unexpected challenges, such as changing weather conditions and other external factors, facing large-scale outdoor inflatable art installations floating in the sea,” said AllRightsReserved, the Hong Kong-based art studio that organised the show.

A source familiar with the situation on Sunday said AllRightsReserved was arranging shipping logistics to return it to Central.

The show, which a source said cost millions of Hong Kong dollars, is expected to end on June 24, but rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the coming days.

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AllRightsReserved said it would safeguard the ducks during unstable weather.

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