All ships of the Vietnamese fisheries surveillance force around the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig have left the area and gone ashore after China moved the drilling platform out of Vietnamese waters on Wednesday, a senior official of the force has said.

>> China moves illegal oil rig out of Vietnam’s waters after oil exploration >> Over 110 Chinese vessels escalate aggression in Vietnam’s waters>> China sends warplane to protect illegal rig in Vietnam’s seas>> Encroaching Chinese vessel displays 'peaceful co-existence' banner in Vietnamese waters>> Chinese warships rush toward Vietnamese vessels in Vietnam’s waters After Beijing towed the mobile facility out of Vietnam’s waters on Wednesday morning, all ships of the force that had been on duty in the waters went ashore to avoid typhoon Rammasun, which is approaching the area, Ha Le, deputy head of the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the same day. The weather in the area worsened on Tuesday afternoon and is getting worse, so all the fisheries surveillance ships are expected to come ashore on Friday afternoon at the latest, Le said. These ships can survive storms with maximum winds of 74 kph, but for safety reasons, the department is carrying out a plan to safeguard all vessels and crew members onboard in any circumstances, the official said. Winds in the area reached up to 49 kph on Wednesday afternoon, he added.

As previously reported, China’s Xinhua News Agency cited a source from the China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL), the rig's operator and supervisor, as saying on Tuesday night that the drilling platform had stopped operations in the Vietnamese waters, near Tri Ton Island, part of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. The platform will be moved to Lingshui, a coastal county of China’s southern Hainan Island, Xinhua said. Beijing had illegally maintained the rig within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf since May 1, despite strong protest from Hanoi, which repeatedly demanded that China remove the rig from the area immediately and unconditionally.

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