A chemical tanker was hijacked Thursday in the South China Sea.

“At 0220 hrs on 2 October 2008, eight pirates armed with long knives and pipes boarded the Panama-registered chemical tanker, the Sun Geranium while she was underway in the South China Sea (at about 70 nm north-east of Pulau Tioman),” reported the ReCAAP Focal Point (Singapore).

ReCAAP is the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.

According to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC), the pirates boarded the tanker from a speed boat, tied up several officers and stole their money.

No injuries among the crew have been reported, and the pirates escaped in their speedboat.

The ReCAAP ISC notes that this is the sixth incident that has occurred in the South China Sea area since the beginning of this year.