BRASILIA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Federal Police of Brazil Friday announced the launch of Operation Taint to investigate a Greek-flagged ship suspected of spilling oil along the country's northeast coast.
"The Greek-flagged ship is initially linked to a Greek company, but there is still no data on who owned the oil being shipped, which means that investigations must continue," the federal police said in a statement.
The Greek-flagged tanker docked in Venezuela for three days in mid-July before continuing its voyage to Singapore via South Africa.
The 14th Federal Court in the country's northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte issued two search warrants on the offices of a company linked to the ship's owners, the federal police said.
The oil spill was first detected in early September. Brazil has so far collected over 2,000 tons of thick sludge from its beaches in continued cleanup efforts.
