The Fastnet Line, which has operated a ferry service between Cork and Swansea since 2010, has been placed into examinership.
The route, which has received €700,000 in funding from Cork City, Cork County and Kerry County Councils, is considered a critical access route for tourists to the South-West.
In a statement this afternoon, the company, a subsidiary of the West Cork Tourism Co-operative Society, said it was committed to the long-term future of the service. But it said its finances had been severely hampered by the continuing increase in world oil prices.
The company apologised to its customers for giving them short notice of the withdrawal of the service. It hopes to re-start the route on April 6 2012, running until September 29 2012, as part of a restructured business plan. Under the new schedule, the ferry would not operate between October and March.
Some 150,000 customers have used the ferry - 75% of them with UK postal addresses, since the service resumed in March 2010 after the co-operative raised some €3m to fund it. The co-operative has around 400 shareholders.
The business currently employs seven full-time shore employees based in Cork and 53 full-time contracted staff on board the MV Julia.
In a separate statement issued by the three local authorities, they confirmed they would provide €150,000 in co-funding for the period of the examinership.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly today appointed Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton interim examiner at a sitting of the High Court. Mr McAteer will present a progress report to the court on November 15.
