As well as the traditional smashing of a bottle of Champagne, to add to the spectacle, the naming ceremony was accompanied by our powerful Stadium Confetti Blasters.
Afif is 385.5 metres long and 51 metres wide. The name “Afif” is of Arabic origin and means “purity” and “honesty” and is the name of a city in Saudi Arabia.
UK Shipping Minister, Nusrat Ghani, smashed a sacrificial bottle of champagne against the bow of the ship, after wishing this new vessel – which can hold an astounding 15,000 twenty-foot containers - good luck and Godspeed as it transits the oceans transporting billions of pounds worth of cargo between Britain and international markets.
The ship's colossal size meant a big effect was needed. We used two of our Stadium Confetti Blasters to shoot a stream of confetti, 25m into the air to frame the ships name.
Because the ceremony was outside and with a likelihood of confetti ending up in the water, this would normally prohibit the use of silver metallic confetti. At Confetti Magic, we take our environmental responsibilities seriously and have recently taken delivery of our exclusive biodegradable silver tissue confetti. We combined this with orange tissue to match the company’s colours and create a stunning photo opportunity for both press and VIPs.
Unlike traditional CO2 Confetti Blasters, Stadium Blasters can be controlled remotely with no need for an operator on each machine to feed in the confetti. Along with providing a more professional look, it also reduces costs as you can operate all the machines simultaneously with just one technician.