[SINGAPORE] Pirates hijacked a second tanker in a month off the Malaysian coast near Singapore, Asia's biggest oil-trading hub, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Ten pirates armed with guns and knives boarded a tanker about 13.5 kilometres west of Malaysia's Pulau Kukup in the Strait of Malacca, forcing the crew to transfer gasoil from the vessel to another ship, the IMB's Piracy Reporting Center said in a Nov 7 incident report on its website. The attack was about 34 miles west of Singapore, according to the co-ordinates recorded by the agency.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) identifies the Malacca Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, as one of the world's two "most strategic chokepoints" for oil trade along with the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.