BC Ferries maiden voyage to promote 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Jun 11, 2007

Three new BC Ferries that will sail from Europe to their new British Columbia home this fall are being wrapped with a massive invitation to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, announced Premier Gordon Campbell, BC Ferries President and CEO, David Hahn, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games’ (VANOC) CEO, John Furlong today.

“The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games offer a tremendous opportunity to showcase our great province and country to the world,” said Premier Campbell. “By wrapping the three new BC Ferries in powerful images that promote our province, our country and our Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, we’re inviting the world to join us before, during and after 2010.”

Each of BC Ferries’ three new, 160 metre ‘Super C-class’ ships will be wrapped with massive photographic images and branding colours representing the 2010 Winter Games and the beauty of British Columbia. The wrapped ferries will sail from Flensburg, Germany, via the Panama Canal, to British Columbia this fall and their journey home will include promotional stops in London, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to raise awareness for the 2010 Winter Games and to promote British Columbia as a tourism destination.

BC Ferries is collaborating with VANOC and 3M Canada to design and create these giant decals, the largest marine application of printed graphics ever undertaken. The decals will be produced in Vancouver and applied at the shipyard in Germany. Each ship will prominently feature four full-colour images promoting British Columbia and winter sport through the depiction of Canadian winter athletes and VANOC’s signature brand blue and green palate. The first ship, the Coastal Renaissance, will be unveiled with its 2010 Winter Games livery in Flensburg, Germany, on September 21, and will arrive in British Columbia via the Panama Canal in mid-November.

The ship’s promotional images feature short track speed skating at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, men’s alpine skiing (sitting category) at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, vineyards near Vaseux Lake in the Okanagan and Nabob Pass situated in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Region, British Columbia.

The Coastal Renaissance will be put into service in January 2008 and the remaining two vessels, the Coastal Inspiration and the Coastal Celebration, will be in service by the summer of 2008. The new Super C-class ships will be the largest double-ended ferries in the world, with capacity for 1,650 passengers and 370 vehicles.

“BC Ferries is among British Columbia’s most prominent tourism icons, so we’re keen to help promote the 2010 Games enroute as we bring each ship home to British Columbia and then to the passengers we transport annually,” said David Hahn. “The Super Cs are the most advanced ferries of their kind in the world and each ship will be seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors – it’s hard to imagine a more uniquely ‘BC’ way to promote the 2010 Games.”

“Our goal is to inspire excitement and anticipation for the 2010 Winter Games in everyone and to take advantage of every possible and imaginative way to do so,” said John Furlong. “These majestic ships, with their spectacular sport and scenic BC images will be a dramatic invitation to learn more, to get involved and to make plans for the experience of a lifetime in 2010.”

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010.

Contact

VANOC Communications
mediarelations@vancouver2010.com