Vancouver: The Vancouver Port Authority (VPA) welcomes today Princess Cruises' newest ship, the Island Princess, for the first-ever christening of a cruise ship in Vancouver. "This is a historic event and a great honour for both Vancouver and Canada. The decision by Princess to christen their ship in Vancouver represents an affirmation of their decades-long commitment to grow this vital industry at our Port," said Kevin Little, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Vancouver Port Authority. "For more than 30 years, Princess Cruises has been a crucial player in building the cruise ship sector, which contributes $508 million to the Canadian economy each year." Jamie Sale and David Pelletier will be on hand to christen the ship.

"The cruise sector is an essential component of the B.C. economy and continues to hold great promise for future job creation and economic renewal in our province," says Little. "In a competitive environment where there are many ports to choose from, we must build on our past successes by continuing to provide superior service and world-class facilities to grow our business."

This season, the Port of Vancouver will welcome a total of 33 ships from 16 cruise lines on an estimated 313 sailings. Princess Cruises will have 43 sailings. In 2002, Vancouver hosted 342 sailings and 1,125,252 revenue passengers. Each cruise ship that sails through Vancouver injects $1.5 million into the Canadian economy. Each year, the cruise ship industry generates 4,500 direct jobs and $177 million in direct wages.

The Port of Vancouver is Canada's largest and most diversified port, trading $29 billion in goods with more than 90 trading economies each year. In total, port activities generate 62,000 total jobs, $1.6 billion in Gross Domestic Product and $3.5 billion in economic output. Last year, 62.8 million tonnes were shipped through the Port of Vancouver.

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For more information, please contact:

Anne McMullin,
Director, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Vancouver Port Authority
(604) 665-9069 (office)
(604) 665-9073 (fax)
(604) 218-1403 (cellular)
anne.mcmullin@portvancouver.com

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