A self-help community initiative in west Cork is hoping this weekend that it can pull off an extraordinary achievement.

The Cork-Swansea ferry campaign, which is raising €3m to reopen the sea crossing worth up to €50m in tourism revenue to the region, is on the brink of acquiring a ship to operate the service.

Representatives of the campaign travelled to Finland last week to bid for the Julia, a 28-year-old car ferry repossessed by a bank after plying the sea between Helsinki and St Petersburg.

Though the group's bid fell short of the reserve, it was the highest of four, the others coming from two Finnish companies and a Greek company.

The Cork campaign aims to arrange a meeting in Helsinki for next week to negotiate the purchase of the 1,400-passenger and 400-car capacity ferry.

If they succeed in buying it, the 340-cabin vessel will be sailed back to Cork by Captain Frank Allen, formerly the director of marine operations for the defunct Cork-Swansea service which was terminated in 2006.

The ferry will then undergo modifications to qualify for certification under Irish law and should be in service for the summer season.

The campaign, spearheaded by West Cork Tourism, intends creating its own company to run the service.

Pledges amounting to €2.9m of the €3m target have been secured, including one donation promised on-line from San Francisco. The campaign's website has logged more than 18,840 hits from 56 countries.

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