A Chinese fishing boat was looted by a group of unidentified pirates in the Beibu Gulf, also called the Gulf of Tonkin, on December 15, causing no casualties.  

The boat, from Yangpu Development Zone of south China's Hainan Province, was carrying normal fishing works at 19.32 degrees north latitude and 107.28 degrees east longitude, when a wooden boat without nationality signs appeared. Three pirates armed with machine guns jumped onto the Chinese boat and took away satellite navigation equipment and 400 fishing nets on board.

The loot values at some 80,000 yuan (US$9,680) and no Chinese fishermen were hurt in the 30-minute ransack, according to local government sources.

The Chinese boat has returned safely on the morning of December 16.

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2004)