Chinese drilling rig to drill in the East Sea

China's Maritime Safety Administration announced that its Haiyang Shiyou 943 drilling rig will conduct exploratory drilling in the East Sea from March 25 to March 31.

The Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig was operating illegally, deep in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone in 2014. Photo: Xinhua

Accordingly, the Hai Duong 943 drilling rig will conduct exploratory drilling at well LD 11-1-1, coordinates 17 degrees 47 minutes 28.8 seconds north latitude, 108 degrees 46 minutes 00 seconds east longitude.

This location is about 50 nautical miles southwest of Sanya City, Hainan Island, China. According to the China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), the safety zone will be centered on the coordinates of the above oil well, within a radius of one nautical mile around, no ships are allowed to pass.

The Haiyang 943 drilling rig is a self-elevating type, capable of operating in waters with a maximum depth of 122 m, and drilling to depths of 10,668 m.

According to MSA, the Haiyang-943 rig will have three support ships: Haiyang-564, Haiyang-617 and Haiyang-618.

Speaking to VnExpress, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Director of the Fisheries Information Center, Department of Fisheries, said: "Based on the coordinates announced by the China Maritime Safety Administration, the location of the Haiyang 943 drilling rig is outside the assumed median line in the Gulf of Tonkin, leaning towards China." Accordingly, the location of the Haiyang 943 drilling rig is not in the overlapping area of ​​the area being negotiated between Vietnam and China.

Location of Haiyang 943 drilling rig according to published coordinates. Photo: Google Map

Earlier this year, on January 16, cVietnamese authorities said China moved the drilling rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981, to a location about 21.4 nautical miles east of the assumed median line (between the two baselines of Vietnam and China).

On January 18, a representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to clarify Vietnam's concerns about China moving the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig to the above location.

Mr. Le Hai Binh,The spokesman for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time declared that this wasThe overlapping area between the continental shelf of central Vietnam and the continental shelf of China's Hainan Island is an area that has not been demarcated by the two sides. Vietnam requests that China not conduct drilling activities and withdraw the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig from this area.

According to VNE