Auditor appointed to Cork to Swansea ferry company

Moore Stephens Nathans has been appointed auditor to the group of companies recently set up under the name Fastnet Line to operate a new passenger and freight ferry link between Swansea in Wales and Cork in Ireland.

The service is scheduled to begin next March.

The cessation of the old Swansea-Cork ferry operation in 2006 caused an estimated annual loss of €35m to businesses in Ireland, which relied on the service to bring large numbers of UK and EU tourists into the south west of the country.

Since the service ended, a number of lobby groups in both this country and Wales have been campaigning for a return of the link, the absence of which has involved an additional three-to-four hours’ travel from Rosslare, the closest alternative port to Cork, for motorists and hauliers.

The new year-round service will take approximately 10 hours and will offer most hauliers and motorists a round-trip saving of more than 600km over alternative sea crossings.

To operate the service, Fastnet Line has acquired the 1982-built ferry Julia at a cost of €7.8m, €6.3m of which was funded by Aktia Bank in Finland.

The 154 metre-long vessel has capacity more than 10 decks for 1,860 passengers, 440 cars and 30 trailers, with more than 300 passenger cabins.

It has most recently been operating between Helsinki and St Petersburg.

Ned Murphy, a partner with Moore Stephens Nathans, South Mall, Cork, said they were delighted to be involved in the project as auditors on behalf of the investors.

Approximately €2.5m was raised as equity from a share subscription in the West Cork Tourism Co-op, with each member contributing €10,000.

An additional €2.5m is expected to be raised, primarily for working capital purposes, by way of secured bonds in slots of €50,000, each returning a coupon (interest payment) of 10% per annum, repayable after four years.

“The Fastnet Line is set to have a very positive impact on the economy of south west Ireland when it begins operating in March next year. Provisional projected turnover for 2010 is €8.9m, rising to €12.1m in 2013,” Mr Moore said.

Moore Stephens International recently added Nathans to its growing association of member firms.

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper.