The Indonesian authorities announced that they seized an Iranian and a Panamanian tanker today on suspicion of illegally transporting oil in that country's waters.
Officials said the tankers were seized in waters off Indonesia's West Kalimantan province and that the crews were suspected of a range of offences.
Among the violations are failure to display the national flag, turning off the identification system, illegal anchoring, prohibited transfer of fuel between ships and oil spillage.
Authorities escorted the two tankers to Batam Island for further investigation.
Since the recent US President Donald Trump imposed harsh sanctions on Tehran in 2018, significantly reducing a key source of income for an already weak economy, Iran has been relying on black market oil sales and deals with Venezuela.
Iranian state-owned tankers regularly sail with their automatic identification system turned off to secretly deliver goods.
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