JPost

(13:00) IAF, US Navy in daring high-seas rescue

Israeli Air Force and US military helicopters are rescuing workers from an American oil drilling platform adrift off the Israeli coast at this hour.

The oil rig, with 84 people on board, belongs to the Global Santa Fe International Corporation.

The rig was being transferred from one drilling site to another off Port Said in Egypt, when it broke from its cables due to stormy weather, said Arieh Rona, head of the Israeli Shipping and Ports Administration.

The rig drifted north and was about 40 nautical miles (64 kilometers) off the Israeli coast near Haifa, Roma told The Associated Press.

The rescue teams are transferring the crew to a US Navy destroyer and an Israeli missile boat, he said.

Israel has prepared land accommodations for the rig's employees, Israel Radio said.

The crew of the rig were not in danger, he added.

By lucky coincidence, the genuine rescue effort comes against the background of joint sea rescue maneuvers by the Israeli, US and Turkish navies which began today.

(With Arieh O'Sullivan, news agencies

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001