One's lifelong dream to own a ferry is just a mouse click away.

A US-based eBay seller, known as "tv_guru", has put the 94.5-metre-long ro-ro Dream (built 1954) up for auction.

A first bid of $500 has taken the asking price to $100,500 with just days left to buy.

The vessel, originally named Evergreen State, offers 13,716 square metres of usable space and was upgraded in 1988 to qualify for Panama Canal passage.

The seller bills the ferry as a "true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", priced for immediate liquidation with a scrap value of more than $1m.

"This vessel can be set up for the ultimate live-aboard, floating waterfront event centre, floating hotel and/or whatever you can imagine. You have abundant space to do it!" according to tv-guru. "This vessel is currently registered as the largest private yacht in the US!"

The ship has new batteries and "all mechanical systems are ready to go," the seller said. It may also be moored during the winter at its current location in Olympia, Washington.

The advertisement, which has attracted 270 "watchers", features a walk-through video of the ship for interested bidders.

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One entrant in the MCTC cooking competition hatches a good idea. Photo: MCTC

Maritime catering company MCTC's latest competition has revealed budding master chefs among vessel crews.

Seafarers on the ships that MCTC supplies were invited to create original dishes as part of a drive to motivate galley staff to be passionate about food and nutrition, the company told TradeWinds.

The theme was canapes, and crews came up with some interesting snacks. One dish was shaped like a snail, another showed a chick hatching from a boiled egg and a team from Columbia Shipmanagement wrote their iCare slogan on one of the plates, in what looks like balsamic vinegar.

Another elaborate concoction featured a bird that appears to be sculpted from vegetables.

MCTC managing director Christian Ioannou said: "We were overwhelmed with entries. We were delighted to see so much creativity and passion go into the creations."