The largest maritime incident exercise in Canadian Coast Guard history is taking place off the Gulf Islands over the next two days.
The Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Armed Forces, BC Ferries and Public Safety Canada are all taking part in this large-scale, multi-agency, on-water emergency preparedness exercise.
The scenario for the exercise is that there is a fire aboard BC Ferries' MV Coastal Renaissance and passengers and crew must evacuate.
The MV Coastal Renaissance has been taken out of regular service, and is being used as a platform for the evacuation of 100 volunteers for the search and rescue portion of the exercise.
It also includes a handover of command from the Canadian Armed Forces to the Canadian Coast Guard.