AN INTERIM EXAMINER has been appointed to the ferry company group Fastnet Line, which travels the Cork to Swansea route.

All services will be discontinued with immediate effect and booked passengers will receive full refunds.

The group has apologised to customers for the short notice of the withdrawal of their services.

Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton has been appointed interim examiner, and is scheduled to present a report on progress to Justice Peter Kelly at the High Court on 15 November.

In a statement, Fastnet Lines said that a re-structured viable business plan, presented as part of the examinership process, forecasts that the service will recommence on 6 April 2012 and sail until 29 September 2012. It said that the service was not expected to operate during the months October to March inclusive in the future.

The group said increases in world oil prices had “severely hampered” services, with fuel as a cost centre increasing by 27 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and almost 50 per cent from the original budget of 2009. Fastnet Line says that a single voyage currently cost €18,560 in fuel costs alone.

The business currently employs seven full-time shore staff, based in Cork, and an average of 53 full-time contracted staff on board at any given time.

The group is owned by the West Cork Tourism Co-Operative Society Limited.