Star WA Bricklaying Pty Ltd

In November 2001, a massive, unfinished Soviet aircraft carrier slowly passed through the Bosphorus Strait, being towed with no engines of its own.

The ship was the Varyag.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it had been left incomplete in Ukraine and was later sold for about $20 million to a Hong Kong–based shell company, officially described as a plan to turn it into a “floating casino.”

What followed was anything but simple.

The vessel began a 15,000-mile journey under tow, crossing multiple seas in a slow and complex passage before finally reaching China. There, its purpose changed completely.

Instead of a casino, it was rebuilt and commissioned as the Liaoning, becoming China’s first aircraft carrier.

A ship once sold for entertainment ended up reshaping naval history.