On MDI’s ‘quiet side,’ residents oppose cruise ship
The prospect of a 310-foot-long, 210-passenger ship in Southwest Harbor garnered overwhelming opposition among more than 90 people attending Monday’s harbor committee meeting.
The Mount Desert Islander reported that Pearl Seas Cruises wants to anchor the ship outside the town on Sept. 21 and bring passengers aboard a 36-foot tender to a privately owned pier, where they would board buses to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This would be the first stop for a cruise ship in Southwest Harbor.
A Pearl Seas Cruises representative told meeting attendees that the company is proposing Southwest Harbor because Bar Harbor’s three-ship maximum on Sept. 21 was already fulfilled.
In a subsequent Facebook thread, one commenter said cruise ships could benefit businesses; but others said the small town would be overrun and its infrastructure overtaxed. Southwest Harbor is on the opposite side of MDI from Bar Harbor.
Bar Harbor is Maine’s busiest cruise port with 163 cruise ship visits due in 2017, up from 105 in 2016, followed by Portland with 90 and then Camden and Boothbay Harbor with 31 apiece.
In June, Bar Harbor voters approved a zoning change that clears the way for the town to buy the former ferry terminal and redevelop it for passenger cruises.
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