Paul O’Dwyer, Lee West and Oliver Davies unveiled plans in October 2017 to transform a boat into budget accommodation, to be located at Prince Dock in the city’s SA1 area.

On board the 42-metre ship, capable of hosting 49 people a night, would have been a coffee shop, bar, restaurant and room for live entertainment on the top deck in the summer, for around £20 a night.

The trio found the MV Oliver Cromwell up for sale in Gloucester and planned to bring it to Swansea to carry out the transformation.

But whilst in discussions with Swansea Council, the boat was snapped up by another businessman in Northern Ireland, who acquired it with plans to carry out a similar project himself.

After it left Sharpness Docks on its way to its new home in Ireland, it sank about 12 miles west of South Stack near Holyhead as it attempted the crossing to Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Mr O’Dwyer told Wales Online: “What actually happened was we were pipped to the post to buy the boat.

“We went back to the vendor to buy the boat but it had been sold off to a businessman in Northern Ireland who had plans to turn it into a hotel himself.

“The next thing we knew we found out the boat sank off the north Wales coast.

“Myself and Lee decided to invest in Copper Bar in Swansea and that’s the project we’ve got on at the moment.

“We’ve put the plans for the floating hotel on hold. We’ve not put it totally to bed yet.”