The dilapidated replica of the Deliverance in St. George's is to be restored in time for Bermuda's 400th anniversary thanks to a $300,000 donation.

The Bank of Bermuda Foundation has stumped up the cash to save the wooden sailing vessel, which has been a tourist attraction on Ordnance Island for the past four decades but had become "very dangerous" in recent years.

The Deliverance is a replica of the ship which was built by survivors of the Sea Venture ship wreck and which sailed from Bermuda to Virginia in 1610.

St. George Mayor Mariea Caisey told The Royal Gazette last night that it was great news for the former capital that the replica boat would be restored in time for the Island's quadricentennial celebrations next year.

"I'm very pleased," she said. "One of the first complaints that I received when I became Mayor was about the Deliverance, which has deteriorated over the years.

"I'm very happy that the Bank of Bermuda Foundation has come to the aid of the Deliverance and not just for its restoration but also giving money for the upkeep of it for years to come."

Ms Caisey added: "It became very dangerous. Things could fall off and hurt someone. I'm just so glad that it's going to be restored."

The boat was given to the St. George's Foundation by former owner Nick Duffy, who ran it as a tourist attraction in the late 1990s but closed it down before moving to France.

Henry Hayward, chairman of the St. George's Foundation, said the organisation struggled to get anyone interested in buying it and two contractors gave seven-figure estimates for its restoration.

"It was coming to the point of being demolished," he said. "We could not get the bank to finance that sort of restoration. Then Mr. Michael Hooper came in and gave a quotation on it and the Foundation agreed to pay for the restoration."

Mr. Hayward said the replica, built in 1967 by the Bermuda Junior Service League, would now not only be restored but would incorporate talking mannequins, installed by Paul Shapiro of Brimstone Media.

"It's been an icon in St. George's ever since it was built," he said. "In the last couple of years it did receive some damage from Hurricane Fabian. There just has not been the work put in to it to bring it up to shape."

The restoration is expected to take between three to four months, after which it will be open to the public on special occasions and available for hire.

Mr. Hayward said the Foundation would see how popular it was before deciding whether to keep it permanently open for visitors. "The objective right now is to get it restored, get it in first class shape and then gradually get a sense of what the demand for it is."