All About Harbor Masters

by Nicholas Walsh, PA

Early in my career I had a client who owned a lobsterboat with a bow pulpit nearly as long as the boat, for harpooning. The local harbor master decided this pulpit represented a danger to other boats maneuvering in the harbor, and he ordered the owner to move his boat or remove the pulpit, either one. The owner refused, and the harbormaster cited him for “Violating a Lawful Order of a Harbor Master.”

There is such a crime, right there in Title 38 Section 13: “A person is guilty of failure to obey an order of a harbormaster if the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly fails to obey any lawful order of a harbormaster authorized pursuant to this subchapter.” Violation of a lawful order is a class E misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Civil penalties and injunctions are also possible. In 1988 a Superior Court judge ordered a man to jail for three days for violating a court order that he desist from mooring his boat in the harbor. (The contempt of court order imposing jail time was overturned on procedural grounds.)

Harbormasters in Maine are endowed with broad authority, and it’s been my experience that judges almost always defer to a harbormaster’s decision that, for example, a boat is obstructing traffic in the harbor.

Maine law requires that the municipal officers of any town which has moorings must appoint a harbormaster on the request of any person desiring mooring privileges or desiring the regulation of moorings. The harbormaster may have arrest authority (and the authority to carry a sidearm), but only if he or she has completed the appropriate law enforcement training.

The fundamental responsibility of harbormasters is to maintain a safe anchorage. To that end, they are empowered “to keep open convenient channels for the passage of vessels in the harbors and waterways”, and even to order the removal of fishing gear – including lobster traps – which the harbormaster deems to be an obstruction. Harbormasters do not, however, have any authority over the location of moorings used to secure properly state-permitted aquaculture gear.

The harbormaster is the keeper of the town’s waiting list for available mooring locations. Shorefront property owners and commercial vessel operators are given specified priority, as may be non-residents of the town, if 10% or fewer of the moorings have been allotted to non-residents. The harbormaster must create a waiting list as necessary, and “town officials shall work out a reasonable procedure for persons to add their names to this list.” The procedure for getting on the waiting list is to be posted in a public place, and “the list shall be considered a public document under the freedom of access law.” So there’s statutory recognition of the fact that mooring allotments have not always been fair and even-handed.

A Captain of the Port is a federal position assigned to the Coast Guard officer in command of the Sector in which the port lies. Portland’s Captain Brian Gilda is thus both Commander, Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, and Captain of the Port of Portland. Federal law provides that the COTP is to enforce safety and security and marine environmental protection regulations, regulations for the protection and security of vessels, harbors, and waterfront facilities; anchorages; security zones; safety zones; regulated navigation areas; deepwater ports; water pollution; and ports and waterways safety. Many of these responsibilities would seem to impinge on the jurisdiction of Portland’s harbormaster Jeff Liick, but the two agencies have a close and generally harmonious relationship.

Our tradition of appointing civilians to administer harbors is inherited, of course, from the U.K., where the King’s or Queen’s Harbour Master has since medieval times held considerable power in local waters. They even sport their own flag, a white-bordered Union Flag with a white central disc bearing the initials “QHM” (or “KHM” during the reign of a King) beneath a crown. A U.K. Harbor Master, however, in general combines the authority of our local harbor masters and our Coast Guard Captain of the Port. So, for example, Portsmouth, England’s Harbour Master – who is a serving officer in the Royal Navy - is responsible not only for mooring fields and dinghy tie-ups, but for ship pilotage and ship traffic management, and for aids to navigation and even charts.

Nicholas Walsh is an attorney specializing in maritime law and waterfront matters. He can be reached at 772-2191, or nwalsh@gwi.net.