WEYMOUTH’S Tall Ship Pelican is up for sale on the open market with an asking price of around £2.45million.

Smith & Williamson has been appointed receiver to the vessel and internet yacht broker Eastern Yachts.com is advertising the sale.

The ship, used for commercial purposes and youth sail training, is based at Weymouth harbourside.

Trustees of the Adventure Under Sail Limited (AUSL) charity say it is ‘business as usual’ and their youth training voyages will remain unaffected while a buyer is sought.

Bookings are being taken as normal and fundraising is under way to assist youngsters with bursaries.

The action-packed programme for the TS Pelican includes participating in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on June 3, the International Tall Ships Races throughout July and August and a winter programme in the Caribbean.

The ship first went on open market sale in 2009 for an asking price of £4million.

The Southampton office of accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson is seeking offers of around £2.45million, in order to pay back the ‘numerous private individuals’, who have kept the ocean-going ship afloat with funds.

Joint receiver Steve Adshead, who has been tasked with securing a new owner, along with Greg Palfrey, stressed that the AUSL charity has no formal relationship with the owner of the 148ft-long vessel.

He said: “It has not been easy to run a tall ship as a successful commercial venture.

“Pelican was held in a limited liability partnership (LLP) rather than in a charity.

“It strove to operate the ship with a mixture of commercial use and youth sail training subsidised by charitable bursaries. “Despite the ship’s acclaimed success in youth sail training it was unable to compete financially with ships at home and abroad that are operated as charities.

“Some of the investors in retirement, understandably, wish to seek a return of their capital.

“This can only be done with a change in the ownership structure and a sale of the vessel.

“Our job now is to pilot Pelican towards a new secure future, perhaps with a wealthy individual coming forward to buy the ship to retain the status quo, or to convert into a luxury yacht.”

In January 2011, a new management team took over the helm of TS Pelican, which included operations director Darren Naggs and the former managing partner Richard Gilmore as chief executive, and introduced a packed sailing programme that has continued into 2012.

AUSL trustee Simon Thorrington said: “It’s a fabulous charity and as far as we’re concerned it’s business as usual.

“We hope and expect any future purchaser will continue to work with us and allow the ship to be used for the provision of services and facilities for young people, who benefit so much from the work we do with them.”

Expressions of interest can be made to Steve Adshead at steve.adshead@smith.williamson.co.uk or by calling 02380 827600.

Visit easternyachts.com/peli canoflondon/index.htm

Fit to go anywhere in the world

TS PELICAN has provided opportunities to more than 500 young people since her maiden voyage in 2007.

The steel-hulled square rigger, with 11 sails on three masts , has berths for 11 crew, permanent and volunteer, plus 28 crew in seven four-berth cabins.

The 370-tonne vessel, which can reach speeds of more than 10 knots under sail, was built in Le Havre, France, in 1946 as a double-beam Arctic fishing trawler.

TS Pelican was acquired in 1997 by retired naval commander Graham Neilson as a restoration project for circumnavigation under sail and was meticulously reconstructed over 12 years in Portland. Pelican reportedly has no equivalent among square riggers.

She can sail anywhere in the world and is equipped to sail in environmentally sensitive areas, such as the Arctic.