After keeping pirates at bay in the Malacca Strait, Singapore and its neighbours want to expand their joint patrols in new piracy hot spots in the South China Sea, the Straits Times reported. Chief of Navy Lai Chung Han was in talks with his counterparts in the littoral states, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, to carry out joint patrols in the southern reaches of the South China Sea. The area and the Phillip Channel, which is 16 km south of Singapore, were places highlighted by Rear-Admiral Lai as new piracy hot spots. Pirates attack one small coastal oil tanker every two weeks in the waters off South-east Asia, the reported said, citing International Maritime Bureau.