The town of Bar Harbor is investigating what it says was an “unauthorized” cruise ship visit to the town last week.
The American Cruise Lines vessel Constitution, which can carry 170 passengers, anchored in the town’s waters on Thursday, June 15, town officials said Wednesday afternoon. The ship did not have a confirmed reservation when it appeared in Bar Harbor, they said.
“American Cruise Lines knowingly took this action over the express objections of the Town and in violation of the Memorandum of Agreement,” the town said in a statement.
Under the agreement, which the town and cruise lines adopted last summer, ships must have an authorized reservation from the town in order to bring passengers to Bar Harbor.
The alleged unauthorized visit comes at a time when cruise ship visitation to Bar Harbor has become a hot-button political issue in Bar Harbor, pitting residents who say that cruise ship visits harm the local quality of life against business interests who say that cruise ship visits have become a significant part of the town’s tourist industry and should not be drastically cut back.
The dispute became more heated last fall after local voters approved a citizen’s initiative to limit passenger visits to no more than 1,000 per day — far below the daily limit of 3,500 to 3,800 passengers a day that the town already had agreed to with the cruise lines. A group of local tourism businesses has since sued the town in federal court, saying that federal law supersedes the 1,000-passenger daily limit.
Reservations are required regardless of what the daily passenger limit is, Sarah Gilbert, the town’s interim town manager, said Wednesday. The Town Council on Tuesday decided to issue a statement on Wednesday about the incident and instructed Harbormaster Chris Wharff and the town’s attorney, Stephen Wagner, to investigate and to “take appropriate enforcement action” against American Cruise Lines, Gilbert said.
Gilbert said passengers from the ship were brought ashore by a tender vessel that the ship brought on the trip. She said the town does not know how many passengers came ashore. The ship arrived in Frenchman Bay in early morning and departed that evening, which is a typical length of a cruise ship visit to Bar Harbor, she said.
Wharff declined to comment Wednesday, deferring questions to Gilbert.
Alex Paolella, spokesperson for American Cruise Lines, said Wednesday that the company has been scheduling stops in Bar Harbor for more than 20 years, including the pandemic year of 2021, when no other cruise ships came to town because of travel restrictions.
She did not comment on the town’s allegation that the company did not have a reservation for the June 15 visit.
“We are confused that a small American passenger vessel would be barred from an American port, particularly one that is frequented by many other small passenger vessels running excursions and ferries,” Paolella said. “We trust this can be resolved quickly with the town and look forward to continuing to work together.”