Iranian authorities have seized a bulk carrier after they said it dumped oil and sludge into the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports, citing Iranian state media.

“Following the publication of images of the discharge of oil into the sea… expert and clean-up teams were dispatched to the site and seized the ship causing the pollution,” the deputy head of the Ports and Maritime Department of the southern Hormozgan province, Esmaeil Makizadeh, told the official IRNA news agency.

“The seized ship was a bulk carrier carrying sugar and had dumped a mixture of burnt oil, bilge water and industrial sludge directly into the sea,” he added, without specifying the vessel’s flag or the nationalities of its crew.

He said the waste has since been cleaned from the water and the ship has been referred to the judiciary.

Iran has demanded compensation following several oil spills in recent weeks, including near the country’s Qeshm island.