Adrift oil rig halted in South China Sea

Two tankers have halted the movement of an oil-drilling rig that had been adrift in the South China Sea, industry sources said. The Roger W. Mowell rig, leased by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas, had been en route to the Ruby oil field near the Spratly Islands. It broke away from the two accompanying tankers because of tropical storm Kaemi, the sources said.
The oil rig was adrift and heading eastward at 2 to 3 nautical miles per hour and heading for a "dangerous reef" 86 nautical miles away with 2,500 litres of diesel, paint and lubricants on board. It was not clear if any crew were aboard.

Petronas has a production-sharing contract with Vietnam oil and gas monopoly PetroVietnam to exploit the Ruby field.