Tugs today shifted a large bulk carrier from a sand bank in the mouth of the River Shannon where coastguards had feared she could be stuck for several days.
With overnight weather not as bad as predicted, the Princess Vanya, which is carrying a 60,000 tonne cargo, was freed before storms blew in.
The vessel, with a crew of 24, was moved with the aid of a "fortuitous" swell and was now just west of Scattery Island, Co Clare, the Department of the Marine said.
But coastguards faced a further complication when a tug cable became entangled in the ship's propeller. Divers could be sent down to free it, a Department spokesman said.
It was feared that aboard the Cypriot-registered vessel would be stuck on the sandbank just off Ballybunnion, Co Kerry, until the weather calmed.
But a seven-metre swell helped shift the ship, with her cargo of bauxite, the spokesman said.
The vessel was not damaged and there was said to be no immediate risk of pollution.
PA