JAKARTA: Authorities in Indonesia have seized an Iranian and a Panamanian oil tanker, suspecting that the two oil tankers were carrying oil illegally and diverting it from Indonesian waters.

According to media reports, Vensu Pramadata, a spokesman for Indonesia's Maritime Security Agency, said the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya tanker were caught in the waters of the western province of West Kalmantan.

These tankers committed various violations. The national flags of their countries were not flying on them. They had shut down their identification systems.

They were illegally tied to each other and oil was being transported illegally from one of the ships to the other.

A spokesman said authorities were moving the two tankers to Batam Island, in the province of Rio Island.