Chinese surveillance ships patrol South China Sea

BEIJING - Two Chinese marine surveillance ships on Tuesday patrolled waters near the Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea where offshore oil platforms are located, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

The vessels are Haijian 75 and Haijian 84, the SOA said in a statement, adding the surveillance aircraft B-3843 also patrolled the same waters.

One of the oil platforms, Ledong 22-1, told patrolling fleet that no oil leak had taken place, nor had they been harassed by foreign vessels lately.

The SOA said Chinese marine surveillance ships carried out 58 patrolling missions on the South China Sea in 2012.