South China Sea: China and Vietnam row over ship drilling for oil
Drilling by the Deepsea Metro I ship was suspended in Vietnam's Block 136/3 last month after pressure from China, which says the concession operated by Spain's Repsol overlaps the vast majority of the waterway that it claims as its own. The ship, used by Norway's Odfjell Drilling Ltd., was reported to be in Labuan at 9.17am (0117 GMT). It was last recorded at the drilling site on July 30. Odfjell Drilling did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
GETTY/ODFJELL DRILLING Drilling ship at centre of row between China and Vietnam has arrived at the Malaysian port of Labuan
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The row over the drilling inflamed tensions between Vietnam and China, whose claims in the South China Sea are disputed by five Southeast Asian countries. Repsol said last month that drilling had been suspended after the company spent $27 million on the well. Co-owners of the block are Vietnam's state oil firm and Mubadala Development Co of the United Arab Emirates. The block lies inside the U-shaped “nine-dash line” that marks the area that China claims in the sea. China had urged a halt to the exploration work and a diplomatic source with direct knowledge of the situation said that the decision to suspend drilling was taken after a Vietnamese delegation visited Beijing.
GETTY STOCK IMAGE Drilling was suspended after pressure from China
ODFJELL DRILLING Deepsea Metro I ship used by Norway's Odfjell Drilling Ltd