The Irish Coast Guard has ordered the transfer of fuel from the Panamanian-registered tanker, Princess Eva, which has been detained under EU Port State control provisions off the Donegal coast.
The vessel poses no immediate pollution threat, according to the Coast Guard, but it has several hairline cracks in its deck. The ship lost two senior officers in a violent storm some 140 miles off the Mayo coast last week, and a third officer is still in hospital after the accident.
Some 55,000 tonnes of gas oil on board the ship will be transferred to another vessel as soon as this can be arranged by the shipowners and agents, the Coast Guard said.
The ship was moved on Sunday night to Inver Bay from McSwyne's Bay, close to Killybegs, where it has been anchored for the last few days.
The Irish Coast Guard has mobilised personnel and specialised pollution response equipment to the area, as a precautionary measure. A Coast Guard spokesman said that it would work closely with Donegal County Council, Dúchas and all relevant authorities and interests while the transfer of fuel was taking place.
Both vessels will be boomed off during the procedure to ensure that there is no contamination of fish farms and marine life in the area, the Coast Guard said. If there is any delay in acquiring a vessel big enough for the job, two vessels may be ordered.
The ship came into McSwyne's Bay on Wednesday to transfer the bodies of two crewmen who died in Tuesday's deck accident. The ship was en route from Copenhagen to Corpus Christi, near Houston in Texas, but headed for Donegal after the accident.
