the US Coast Guard began its pursuit of the oil tanker - known as a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) - two weeks ago as it sailed to Venezuela to pick up an oil shipment.

Port state control inspection documents from July last year show Irish officials found 10 deficiencies with Solong.

An Irish trawler ran into the side of a large oil tanker in the Irish Sea around 90km off the Waterford coast