Cruise Ship Anchorage Debate
Muddies Rockland

Portland, Maine off Commercial St., September 2017. Fishermen’s Voice photo

The response to a public inquiry regarding a federal anchorage for “mega” cruise ships, that described it as “a done deal,” has forced the issue into the public arena. The anchorage would be in Owls Head south of Rockland Harbor. A wide swath of Rockland’s commercial and residential population had cried foul to the city managers.

Tom Peaco at the Rockland Chamber of Commerce said the Chamber is pro-active in attracting cruise ships to Rockland Harbor. He said, “The role of the Chamber is to insure a warm welcome to passengers and crew.” The Maine Tourism Association promotes “Cruise Maine” to encourage cruise ships to come to Maine.

Typical objections included: 1,000-foot vessels pouring 3,000 or 4,000 passengers onto town streets for the day, or into dozens of buses idling on the waterfront, interference with fishing and pleasure boat use in the harbor, noise from a twelve-story ship running and lit up all night, etc., etc.

A meeting was held on February 20, 2018, originally scheduled for the harbor master’s office, but the large turnout had it moved to Rockland City Hall. There Rockland state representative Pinny Beebe-Center said, “people didn’t know what was true and what was not.” Beebe said “Yachting Solutions,” a company with another project plan, separate from the federal anchorage, “was seeking to build a marina in Rockland for large vessels. It was reported to have all the necessary permits in place and Coast Guard approval, which was not the case.”

“Over the last 40 years Rockland has transformed itself from having fallen on hard times to a vibrant, unique mix of small businesses,” said Cabot Lyman of Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding. They include the traditional coastal economic backbone businesses like boat building, marine services, fishing and related support. Alongside these are a wide variety within businesses like restaurants, crafts, art galleries, museums, clothing, hotels and commercial and pleasure boating, making Rockland what tourism calls a destination location.

“No one,” at the Rockland City hall meeting, “knew the process or who to ask about it. There was a serious lack of information,” said Beebe-Center. Penobscot Bay Pilots Association Captain David Gelinas explained the process for federal anchorage designation. Large ships, according to the “rights of navigation,” are entitled to come into U.S. harbors. They are required to call for a licensed pilot, who is trained to handle large ships and familiar with the harbor, to board the ship and pilot it to its destination.

Gelinas said there was not enough room in Rockland Harbor for 1000’ cruise ships with specific requirements – turning around, long anchor chains, service by small vessels, wind exposure, etc. “A federal anchorage is a purple mark on a chart, not something constructed in the water,” said Gelinas. The procedure is for the Pilots Association to make a formal request with the U.S.Coast Guard, a federal agency, for an approved point to be designated as a safe anchorage. When the Coast Guard determines the location, following a review, is OK then it is ostensibly a “done deal.” There will be a purple mark on the chart. Regarding jurisdiction, Gelinas said the city of Rockland has no jurisdiction over federal anchorages.

Contrary to what cruise corporations, chambers of commerce and the Maine Tourism Department claim regarding cruise ship passengers spending a lot of money in the ports they visit, Lyman said he has seen the opposite. He has for decades sailed the ports of the U.S., Bahamas and South America. There, cruise ship corporations persuade towns to invest in infrastructure for them, but there is no trickle-down for those communities. He said Nassua in the Bahamas, “has become a slum” in the wake of large numbers of cruise ships arriving, selling their own products and displacing the local tourist businesses.”

Lyman said he has known boatyards to be harmed by the arrival of the cruise ship industry and he expects it would be the same for Rockland. “The lobster industry is a $500 million industry in Maine and boatbuilding is as well,” he said. Fishermen have expressed concern that cruise ships with 4,000+ passengers aboard regularly dump untreated human, food and pharmaceutical waste and trash in the ocean.

Beebe-Center said, “The Coast Guard could not have been more open, cooperative and informative. The Rockland City Council also deserves a lot of credit for opening it to the public and determining what is real and what is not.”