FASTNET LINE has apologised to its customers for any inconvenience caused by the short notice of its immediate withdrawal of service following yesterday’s High Court ruling allowing the appointment of an interim examiner to the company.
Under the revised business plan, the company’s sole vessel, the MV Julia, will not sail again until April 6th, 2012, and will continue sailing until September 29th.
Yesterday's decision to halt services through the winter months and undergo restructuring comes just 18 months after the service was launched when the MV Juliamade its maiden voyage from Swansea to Cork.
The launch of the service marked the culmination of over a year of effort by business interests in the southwest, with some 300 people involved in tourism in Cork and Kerry each committing €10,000 through a holding co-op towards start-up costs.
The venture was also supported by Finland’s Aktia Bank and its finance company, Aktia Yritysrahoitus Oy, through the provision of a multimillion-euro mortgage to the Fastnet Line to support the acquisition of the MV Julia for €7.8 million.
Cork city and county councils and Kerry County Council also provided more than €700,000.
The councils yesterday announced they would be contributing a further €150,000 in co-funding for the period of the examinership.
The councils pointed out that the ferry had carried 150,000 passengers since the service began and had made an important economic contribution in terms of tourism and trade to the southwest.
Fastnet Line, in its own statement, said some 75 per cent of those 150,000 passengers came from Britain, and it was estimated that with an average spend of €350 a person, they had contributed almost €40 million in revenue to the Irish tourism sector.
The first ferry service on the route since Swansea-Cork Ferries ended its service in 2006, the Fastnet Line operation employs seven full-time shore staff based in Cork, while on average it employs 53 full-time contracted staff on board the MV Juliaduring the operating season.
