Another Buran no show

The ‘world’s largest space touring show,’ the Malaysia International Aerospace Adventure is set to open this week, two months overdue and without its star attraction – a Soviet-era space shuttle which lies stranded in Bahrain.

As a bitter legal battle over the shuttle continues, another space show dubbed ‘the most stunning expo ever to tour Hong Kong’ could face a similar fate.
Hong Kong Space Shuttle 2007 is due to open in December with the Buran as its major draw.
The Buran 0.02, a full scale test vehicle which lies in pieces in a storage yard in Mina Salman, was brought to Bahrain for a summer festival in 2002. It has since been at the centre of a volatile ownership row, as revealed in GulfWeekly.
Despite a ruling last month by Bahrain’s High Civil Court in favour of the Buran’s original owners, Russian company NPO Molniya, the saga of the ill-fated shuttle drags on.
Kevin Tan, owner of Singapore-based Space Shuttle World Tours (SSWT) who bought the Buran for $320,000 in 2002, was accused of reneging on the full payment and a four-and-half year legal dispute ensued.
In the latest chapter, Mr Tan claims that NPO Molniya owes him $160,000 for transportation costs of the shuttle from Sydney to Bahrain, citing an appendix made in the original purchase contract – which has since been terminated.
He is also claiming additional costs for the storage and dismantling of the Buran in Bahrain. 
Bahrain’s High Civil Court is examining evidence and an ‘arrest’ has been made on the Buran preventing it from being delivered to NPO Molniya’s new buyer, Auto Technik Museum Sinsheim & Speyer in Germany.
Meanwhile, Mr Tan leased the shuttle to Malaysian and Hong Kong-based events companies.
But Mr Tan was unable to deliver the Buran to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and, depending on the court’s decision Hong Kong’s space show may also be without a star attraction.
The German museum, like the Malaysian show is also missing out.
“It’s a very bad situation for us,” said museum manager, Michael Walter, “We expected to get the release of the Buran after waiting for four years and receiving six verdicts in our favour.
“The whole nation is waiting for the news of when the space exhibition can start in Germany. We are in a similar situation to Malaysia and Hong Kong and I know how they must feel. Fortunately we still have the hope we will receive the Buran one day.”
Lorenz Gluck, counsel for the museum, said: “The Malaysian government were trying very hard to get the Buran delivered but couldn’t, and the events company has started without it. The same thing is likely to happen to Hong Kong.” 

By -RdS-
editor@gulfweekly.com