After a city council’s 5-0 vote, cruise ships with greater than 50 passengers are not allowed to go to a port in Maine. With this tight restriction, it’s not only a ban on giant cruise ships however basically all cruise ships.
The Belfast Metropolis Council said that cruise ships blocking the channel was a significant concern. Moreover, the tour buses wanted to switch passengers into city was a supply of competition.
With a inhabitants of about 7,000, Belfast, Maine, is a captivating coastal city recognized for its picturesque downtown and proximity to nice mountain climbing trails and pure magnificence.
In 2024, eight cruise ship visits have been made on the Belfast, Maine port. 5 of those visits have been from the 109-passenger American Eagle with American Cruise Line.
American Cruise Line has been the one main cruise line to make common stops on the port. Since not one of the cruise line’s ocean-faring ships carry fewer than 50 passengers, the ban will hold the cruise line from visiting the port fully.
In actual fact, it is going to hold most cruise traces from visiting Belfast, since not many ocean-going cruise vessels would match underneath the restrict.
Congestion within the Port
Councilor Brenda Bonneville mentioned that the ban was essential to take care of security considerations.
“When these consultants, actually, come to us and say, ‘that is how we really feel, these are our suggestions,‘ we pay attention very rigorously and depend on their experience,” Bonneville said.
Restricted house across the port additionally made it tough for different vessels to maneuver and dock when cruise ships have been on the town.
“A few of these issues had a particular destructive influence on different visiting boaters utilizing the docks, launch ramp use and pedestrian and site visitors security across the Belfast Metropolis Touchdown,” Harbor Grasp Katherine Given mentioned in a memo.
Given additionally mentioned that the inflow of passengers triggered issues with different types of transportation with the “surprising arrival of constitution buses to take the ship’s passengers to different places”.
A $24,000 Loss in Income
Belfast was anticipated to herald about $24,000 from 14 cruise ship visits in 2025, simply from American Cruise Line alone.
However in a memo, Given said that she expects “to generate a lot of the income if cruise ships don’t return” via different means.
Native enterprise homeowners and council members said that cruise passengers don’t have a lot room for souvenirs on the ship and would usually fairly see the realm’s websites than purchase from native distributors.
Bar Harbor’s Cruise Cap
This isn’t the primary time a Maine cruise port has restricted cruise site visitors. In November 2024, Bar Harbor’s city council narrowly upheld a 1,000-passenger every day cap that originated in 2022.
This choice was upheld by a federal decide in February 2024, confirming that Bar Harbor might legally implement this cover.
For the 2024 season, ships that had made reservations earlier than the vote in 2022 have been allowed to go to with out these restrictions, however from 2025 onward, practically all cruise ships are anticipated to be topic to this 1,000 passenger per day restrict.
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