Haiyang 981 drilling rig enters the East Sea again

China Maritime Safety Administration announced that the semi-submersible drilling rig Haiyang 981 will conduct exploratory drilling in the area with coordinates 17-29.53N, 110-57.18E from December 28 to February 10, 2016.

China's Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig. Photo: AFP.

On its official website, the China Maritime Safety Administration said that the Haiyang 981 drilling rig will conduct exploratory drilling in the area with the above coordinates and requested that water vehicles be prohibited from entering the 2,000 m area around the rig.

Speaking to Zing.vn, Major General Nguyen Quang Dam, Commander of the Coast Guard, said that Haiyang 981 is currently located in the same position as Vietnam's Quang Binh waters, 70 nautical miles east of the median line (the boundary between Vietnam and China in the Gulf of Tonkin). The Coast Guard will continue to closely monitor the activities of this rig in the East Sea.

Haiyang 981 was illegally placed in Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. On May 1, 2014, Vietnam discovered this rig and three Chinese oil and gas service vessels moving from the northwest of Tri Ton Island (part of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago) to the south.

A day later, the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig was illegally placed 80 nautical miles deep into Vietnam’s continental shelf, 130 nautical miles from the Vietnamese coast. Dozens of guard ships accompanied it. Observers considered this the most serious violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty in more than 20 years of Vietnam-China relations.

After 75 days of illegally placing the rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, on July 16, 2014, China announced the withdrawal of the Haiyang 981 drilling rig from the sea area near Tri Ton Island in Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago.

Location of the drilling rig (red dot) according to coordinates given by China. Photo: Google Maps.

Hai Duong 981 is a semi-submersible rig, 114 m long, 90 m wide, 137 m high and weighing 31,000 tonnes. Its floor area is equal to a standard football field.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the amount of steel used to build Haiyang 981 is four times the amount of steel used to build the Eiffel Tower in France. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) launched the Haiyang 981 rig in mid-2012. Currently, Haiyang 981 is under the management of China Oilfield Services Company (COSL), a unit of CNOOC.

According to Zing.vn