A Greek ship management company being investigated in Brazil in connection with a massive oil spill that had occurred in the Atlantic off the country's northeastern coast has denied allegations that one of its vessels was responsible for the incident.
Delta Tankers said in a recent statement that a review of camera footage and sensor data showed that the vessel that Brazilian federal prosecutors had suspected as the source of the spill instead had been sailing without incident during the time that the spill had occurred in the latter part of July 2019.
Delta Tankers stressed there is no evidence that its vessel had stopped, slowed down, veered off course, or leaked oil into the sea at any time during its scheduled voyage from Venezuela to Malaysia. Further, the company confirmed that the tanker was able to discharge its entire cargo of crude oil without any shortage upon its arrival at Malaysia's Port of Melaka.
The statement was released within days of a series of raids by Brazilian police on Delta Tankers' offices in Rio de Janeiro for the issuance of warrants in connection with the spill, which had occurred some 700 kilometres offshore and ended up affecting more than 2,500 kilometres of coastline across nine states.
Local prosecutors say they have "strong evidence" that the Delta Tankers-managed vessel had indeed caused the spill and that the company had failed to notify authorities about the incident.
