Thank you, Minister Strahl, and my thanks to the committee for the opportunity to speak on some of these estimates. I want to encourage the committee to continue with Bill C-33. I follow your work closely and encourage you to have that clear very soon so that we can get it into law as quickly as possible, and I know that's the intent of the committee. So I encourage you to do that.
I want to talk a little bit about Marine Atlantic. Marine Atlantic is a line issue that is $4.4 million to the corporation. These funds are covered because of the changes in the specific vessel and the shore-based capital projects included in the 2010-11 budget right up to 2014-15. That's in the corporate plan.
MAI ferry service is a tremendously vital link to Newfoundland and Labrador, the Atlantic region, and Canada as a whole, both for the businesses that work there and for the economic growth of the region. Marine Atlantic serves thousands of travellers each year and it carries over 50% of the goods entering Newfoundland and Labrador. The ferry service also supports the tourism industry in that area and will be able to do so in a much better way as we move forward.
The government has invested almost a billion dollars since 2007 in Marine Atlantic, revitalizing not only its vessels but also its onshore facilities. It will be flowed out over the next couple of years. We have had the opportunity to bring into service MV Blue Puttees, a brand new vessel, and the first of two. This is a tremendous vessel. I had the opportunity to visit and inspect it, and to talk to the individuals who work on the vessel. They're very proud of it, and rightfully so. It's two football fields in length. It's a massive vessel that will have over 40% more capacity than the MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood and the MV Caribou, the vessels it is replacing. We also have the MV Highlanders, which is expected to be in operation on April 1 as well. I can tell you MV Blue Puttees is in operation for the first week this last week and is serving that area very well.
In fact, the most significant change in these supplementary estimates occurred because these vessels actually came in a little bit earlier, and that's why the money had to be advanced. Both are important and needed investments. It's important for Marine Atlantic to have the ability to supply the services to Newfoundland and Labrador. We're working closely with the Newfoundland and Labrador department of tourism, not only because of the increase in demand for capacity for vessels and passengers, but also for tourism in the area. With these new vessels, the opportunity for tourism in that area will greatly increase as we go into the summer.
So with that, we'd love to take any questions you might have on these estimates.