GREEK-FLAGGED SHIP CAUSED BRAZIL MYSTERY 2019 OIL SLICK — POLICE

A mystery oil slick that caused environmental disaster along a vast stretch of Brazilian coastline in 2019 and 2020 was caused by a Greek-flagged vessel, federal police said on Thursday (Friday in Manila) after a two-year investigation. The police said “there is sufficient evidence that a Greek-flagged oil tanker was responsible for leaking” the oil that afflicted more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of coast between August 2019 and March 2020. The slick affected more than 1,000 towns in 11 coastal states, investigators said, without naming the company that owns the ship. The vessel’s owners, as well as the ship’s captain and chief engineer, faced charges of “crimes of pollution, noncompliance with environmental obligations and damage to natural reserves,” police said.