CANBERRA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Japanese authorities have ordered the release of two anti-whaling activists being held after trying to board a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean, Australia's government said on Wednesday.

Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane, from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Steve Irwin, boarded the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No. 2 late on Tuesday to tell the crew they were illegally killing whales.

Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australian diplomats in Tokyo had asked the Japanese government to seek the immediate and safe release of the pair. "Late last night I was advised that the Japanese had agreed to this and they have instructed the relevant whaling ship to return the men to the Steve Irwin," Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

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