Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 - A team of experts Tuesday found oil patches along the coast of Orissa's Paradip port and suspected it could have leaked from a ship that sank near the harbour Sep 9.

'We found oil patches three kilometers away from the port. Probably it had come from the ship,' D.K. Behera, a state pollution control board scientist who inspected the area, told IANS.

He said samples have been collected to ascertain the quantity of oil spill and if it would lead to major pollution.

Behera's findings come hours after the Paradip Port Trust authorities denied any major spill of oil from the capsized vessel.

The vessel under a Mongolian flag ran aground with 924 tonnes of furnace oil and about 25,000 tonnes of iron ore fines. A total of 27 crew members was on board the ship.