COASTAL RENAISSANCE SETS SAIL FOR B.C.

FIRST NEW SUPER C-CLASS VESSEL

SETS SAIL FOR B.C. TOMORROW

Coastal Renaissance arrives mid-December and will be in service in Spring 2008

BC Ferries’ Coastal Renaissance, the first of three new Super C-class vessels is on its way. The vessel will depart Flensburg, Germany on Saturday, October 27, bound for its new home in British Columbia.

The trans-Atlantic voyage will take approximately 45 days, depending on weather, and will include stops for refuelling in Brunsbuettel, Germany; Las Palmas, Canary Islands; and Cristobal, Panama before transiting the Panama Canal and sailing up the west coast of North America to British Columbia.

Early next week, BC Ferries will launch a webpage for those who want to join the voyage “virtually.” Customers will be able to watch the ship’s progress including course, position and speed from a link on BC Ferries’ homepage at www.bcferries.com.

Coastal Renaissance is scheduled to arrive in Nanaimo mid-December for crew training and familiarization. After a series of public open houses in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island, the ship will start service on the Departure Bay – Horseshoe Bay route in the Spring of 2008.

BC FERRIES TO INCREASE FARES ON NOVEMBER 1

BC Ferries is reminding customers that passenger and vehicle fares will increase effective November 1, 2007. Fares will increase by an average of 2.8 per cent on the three major routes connecting Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland and an average of 4.4 per cent on the remaining routes.

Prices for prepaid discount ticket books on the minor routes and rates for assured loading on the Lower Mainland – Vancouver Island routes, will also increase November 1, 2007.

Northern route price increases have already been set through September 30, 2008 in recognition of the planning requirements of tour operators.