Buoys in Disputed Waters Roil South China Sea Dispute
Buoys stretched "as far as eye could see" - Philippine sailor. The Philippine navy recently found a large steel marker bearing Chinese inscriptions and hundreds of yellow buoys in waters near the Reed Bank, an area of the South China Sea where Manila has long explored for oil and gas, Philippine naval sources said. One source, a sailor, told Reuters he was on a fishing boat being used by the navy that discovered the rubber buoys and the floating steel marker at the end of May. The buoys stretched "as far as the eye could see", the sailor said. He said there was no evidence Chinese ships had placed them near the Reed Bank, which is also claimed by Beijing.
Bad Weather Stalls Oil Clean-up
Bad weather stalled the clean-up and pipeline response efforts 30 miles south east of Galveston, Texas, Wednesday night. Strong winds and large waves have made working conditions unsafe, forcing the dive ship American Victory and the skimmer Ampol Recovery to stop operations. The skimmer Brutis is remaining on scene to monitor the oil sheen. The divers sealed the shore side end of the breach by inflating rubber buoys inside the pipe at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday. Divers were unable to locate the platform end of the breach due to zero visibility caused by heavy silt conditions and deteriorating weather conditions. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the waves are currently five to six feet high, and are expected to reach eight feet by the end of the day.
