The stranded chemical tanker West Sailorwill be towed to shore tomorrow afternoon having been anchored off the Kerry coast since early yesterday morning.
Minister of State for the Marine, Pat "The Cope" Gallagher told Siptu International Transport Federation inspector Ken Fleming that the vessel will be brought in around midday tomorrow.
An alert was raised shortly after 2am yesterday when the Polish-owned ship reported a fire in its engine room. The vessel's 15 crew members, thought to be Filipino, are still on board the Maltese-registered ship.
Suspicions were raised following reports that the crew had not been permitted to telephone the coastguard for help.
This afternoon Mr Fleming said, "I would like to thank the Minister for his very prompt intervention. Up until I spoke to him this morning nobody appeared to be interested in what happened to the crew. As soon as I made him aware of our concerns he said he would act and he has been as good as his word."
Mr Fleming said he had been contacted by text message yesterday by members of the crew who said they had been "prevented from calling rescue" and that they were "in a dilemma".
Mr Fleming said he was also concerned that the fire on board the vessel appeared to have broken out at around 1am yesterday morning, yet the emergency fire services had not arrived at the scene until 4.30am.
Lt Cmdr Aedh McGinn of the naval service vessel the LE Aoife,which is monitoring the ship, reported that the ship was in no danger and that all members of the crew were believed to be safe.
The ship had deposited its cargo of sulphuric acid at Aughinish Alumina plant on the Shannon Estuary on Tuesday and was travelling to Belgium when it got into difficulty off the Kerry coast.