Marine Atlantic Holds Annual Public Meeting

Marine Atlantic held its 2012 Annual Public Meeting this afternoon (December 12) at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland in St. John's, NL. Marine Atlantic Chair, Rob Crosbie, was joined by the President and CEO, Paul Griffin, and Vice President Finance Shawn Leamon in presenting the 2011-12 financial statements and an overview of the Corporation's activities.

The Annual Public Meeting is designed to provide an update on Marine Atlantic's fiscal year initiatives and investments, with this year's meeting focusing on the period April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.

"Today's meeting was a valuable opportunity to provide a public update on the many initiatives taking place within Marine Atlantic," said Rob Crosbie, Chair of the Board of Directors. "There are many positive investments and improvements taking place at Marine Atlantic and I thank those who attended for their continued interest in our service."

The main highlights of this year's meeting included corporate and shareholder investment, fleet renewal, service improvements, infrastructure investment and business process change.

Financial highlights included the Corporation's total expenditures of $288.5 million; $100.5 million was generated via customer tariffs and related revenue and $178.8 million was received via subsidy from the Government of Canada. The remaining $9.2 million was funded through the sale of assets. Over $33 million was spent on fuel, while close to $37 million was invested in asset renewal.

"We've made significant investments in our fleet and continue to make investments in shore-based infrastructure as well as updating our business practices to become a modern and efficient Corporation offering a high level of customer service," said President and CEO Paul Griffin. "We will continue to move forward with our agenda of change and look forward to sharing these improvements with our customers in the months and years ahead."

Marine Atlantic is a federal crown corporation that reports to the Government of Canada through Transport Canada.

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Media Contact:

Darrell Mercer, Communications

Telephone: (709) 772-0073 or (709) 727-2405

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