Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer has donated £3.3m towards the restoration of the London, UK-based tea clipper Cutty Sark, devastated in a fire in May 2007.

It is the second major donation made this year by Ofer. In April, Ofer gave £20m to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for the creation of a major new wing.

Cutty Sark, considered one of London's iconic visitor attractions, was undergoing a £35m redevelopment project when a fire gutted the vessel and destroyed most of its wooden planking.

Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, said: "We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Sammy Ofer for his extraordinary donation.”

Carole Souter, chief executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund, added: "This is exactly the news we've all been waiting for. Private philanthropy is incredibly important when it comes to protecting the UK's heritage - in partnership with Lottery funding and government support - and we applaud Mr Ofer's generosity which now means that the Trust can go ahead and realise their vision for one of the UK's best-loved historic ships."