Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed that only one warship from each country should patrol a disputed oil-rich maritime area following recent clashes, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday.

The withdrawal of all other navy vessels from the area in the Sulawesi Sea off the coast of Borneo island would be done simultaneously, Najib, who is also defence minister, was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

He said Malaysia has welcomed the agreement, which was reached at a recent meeting between the Malaysian and Indonesian naval chiefs.

Earlier this month warships from the two countries brushed sides near the Karang Unarang reef east of Borneo island, where Indonesia is building a lighthouse to strengthen its territorial claims in the disputed region.

Both countries have lodged official protests with each other over the incident.

Tensions high

Tensions are high in the area after Malaysia granted an oil concession in the region on February 16 to Anglo-Dutch firm Shell. Jakarta says the blocks awarded by state oil firm Petronas are not in territory controlled by Malaysia.

Officials from both sides begun negotiations to settle the overlapping claims to the area last month and are due to meet again in May.

The two countries have locked horns over the region before. A dispute over the ownership of two islands ended in December 2002 with an International Court of Justice ruling that the islands belong to Malaysia.