20 foreign crew members rescued. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) successfully rescued out of control ships in the Wenchang waters
Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou, September 19 (Xinhua) - According to CNOOC Zhanjiang Branch, on September 17, Zhanjiang Branch successfully rescued a foreign ship that had been drifting at sea for more than 50 hours, and 20 foreign crew members on board were also successfully rescued.
On September 16th at 7:00 am, the emergency duty room of China National Offshore Oil Corporation Zhanjiang Branch, which is on duty 24 hours a year, received a call from the Qinglan Maritime Safety Bureau. The main engine of the foreign ship "GRIFFIN" located 30 nautical miles from the "Wenchang 132" platform malfunctioned and lost power, posing a threat to the lives of 20 foreign crew members on board. China National Offshore Oil Corporation Zhanjiang Branch was requested to provide rescue.
It is reported that the ship departed from Cambodia on September 9th and malfunctioned on the evening of September 14th. It drifted at sea for more than 50 hours and entered the waters of Wenchang.
"Only our ships in the vicinity have towing and rescue capabilities. After receiving a rescue request, we immediately requested the Guangdong Provincial Maritime Search and Rescue Center to help predict the trajectory of the out of control ship's drift. The duty room also continued to monitor the ship's drift path and coordinated with the Wenchang Oilfield duty ship 'Offshore Oil 601' to be on standby. We also arranged for the high-power ship 'CNOOC 281' to go to the scene for emergency rescue. According to Wang Weitao, the emergency manager of CNOOC Zhanjiang Branch, the sea was very rough at that time, which increased the difficulty of rescue.".
Therefore, arriving near the malfunctioning ship on the evening of the 16th, it was difficult to operate due to poor visibility in the dark and strong winds and waves, so we had to wait first. On September 17th at 7 o'clock, the "CNOOC 281" vessel successfully took over the distressed vessel and, according to instructions, towed it to the anchorage of Qinglan Port in Hainan at 18:17 pm to complete emergency rescue.
According to data from CNOOC Zhanjiang Branch, it has assisted in completing 7 maritime rescue missions since 2023, dispatched 6 ships and 1 helicopter, and successfully rescued 37 people in distress.