The Irish Coast Guard says there is no immediate pollution risk from the Panamanian-registered tanker Princess Eva, which has been detained off the Donegal coast with hairline fractures on its deck.
However, a final decision will be taken today on one of three options: pumping the tanker's fuel cargo off; escorting the vessel to another port; or allowing it to sail.
The ship, which lost two crewmen in a deck accident off the Mayo coastline earlier this week, has 55,000 tonnes of vacuum gas oil on board. This is a sticky type of light diesel which could pose a considerable environmental risk if any leakage occurred.
The three hairline fractures were detected above a ballast tank on the tanker, following an inspection on Thursday by surveyors from the Maritime Safety Directorate. The ship had come into Donegal Bay to transfer the bodies of the two Argentinian officers ashore at Killybegs. A third officer who lost his leg in the accident is still in hospital in Galway.
The ship is a single-hull tanker, and such vessels are due to be outlawed by the EU in 2015, if not sooner, under revised plans from the EU Transport Commissioner.
It was en route from Copenhagen to Corpus Christi, near Houston in Texas, when the accident occurred. At this time of year, some ship owners will not risk taking the shorter route from Denmark to the US across the Atlantic because of weather conditions off the Irish coast.
Mr Eugene Clonan, marine pollution and salvage manager with the Irish Coast Guard, described the situation as very stable yesterday. If a decision was taken to tranship the fuel off the vessel on site, protective booms would be put in place to protect aquaculture and marine life in the area. The ships owners were co-operating fully, he said, and a representative of the company, and the relevant classification society, had travelled to Killybegs.
Last week, a single hull tanker, the Anastasios IV, was detained at Dublin port by the Maritime Safety Directorate after 38 deficiencies were found on board. Earlier this week, the EU transport and energy vice-president, Ms Loyola de Palacio, called on EU partners to deepen co-operation and take stronger action to improve maritime safety.
In a separate development, the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency cleared the Stena Line ferry, Stena Europe, to sail after an inspection on Thursday night in the Welsh port of Pembroke. The ship lost all engine power en route from Rosslare to Fishguard on Thursday, with 155 passengers and 65 crew on board. However, power was restored within an hour, and the marine emergency plan was stood down.
Mr Eamonn Hewitt, of Stena Line, said the ship was back on schedule, having left Rosslare with Munster rugby supporters bound for Cardiff yesterday morning. Investigations were continuing into the cause of the "technical fault".