Visitors look at an 18-metre-tall (59-feet) bath toy duck replica created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman as it floats its repair in Keelung harbor after repaired on January 3, 2014. The giant yellow duck on display in a northern Taiwan port exploded just hours before it was expected to attract a big crowd to count down the new year. AFP
TAIPEI – A giant yellow inflatable duck which exploded on New Year’s Eve returned to a Taiwan port on Friday after it was repaired and cleaned, organizers said.
Hundreds turned out in Keelung on the north of the island to welcome back the 18-meter-tall (59-feet) duck following two days of maintenance after it burst and deflated into a floating yellow disc Tuesday.
It was the second time that a replica of the bath toy had burst while on show in Taiwan. The duck exploded just hours before crowds gathered to count down the New Year.
“The warmest welcome for the little yellow duck to come back to Keelung port. I am very excited and happy all over again,” fan Mandy Liu wrote on a Facebook page created for the Keelung exhibition.
Another fan, Wu Hsien-che, wrote: “We should pray to the gods and ghosts to ensure the exhibition can go on smoothly.”
The duck burst because of rising pressure caused by rapid temperature changes.
Devices have since been put inside the duck for 24-hour monitoring of temperature and pressure, organizer Huang Jing-tai told reporters.
Since 2007 the original duck designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman — which is 16.5 meters tall — has travelled to 13 cities in nine countries, including Brazil, Australia and Hong Kong, on its journey around the world.
Three Taiwanese cities exhibited their versions of the yellow duck in 2013. But all were forced to temporarily suspend the exhibit due to bad weather or damage.
In November, a duck in the northern county of Taoyuan deflated during a 6.3-magnitude earthquake when an air pump stopped working.
Powerful winds caused the duck’s rear end to burst while it was being re-inflated.