No change in cruise schedules for Bar Harbor port

BAR HARBOR – Local ports are prepared to be flexible but have seen little change to their scheduled traffic in response to last week’s terrorist attacks along the Eastern seaboard, Bar Harbor Harbor Master Charlie Phippen said Monday.

A cruise ship called the Aurora, owned by P&O Lines, sailed into port Monday, a day early because a visit to New York City was dropped from the cruise.

The vessel, with 1,959 passengers aboard, was one of three cruise ships scheduled to arrive in Bar Harbor this morning, Phippen said.

Bar Harbor had made special arrangements for bus parking and traffic control to manage the combined 5,053 ship passengers that had been expected in town during the triple visit today.

The schedule change, however, actually worked to the advantage of the town and the passengers by dispersing the passengers over a longer period of time, Phippen said.

The Norwegian Sea, owned by Chase, Leavitt & Co. with 1,504 passengers, and the Crown Princess, owned by Princess Lines with 1,590 passengers, are expected to arrive this morning in Bar Harbor as scheduled.

No additional vessels have asked to dock in Bar Harbor. Several New York-bound cruises have changed their destinations to Boston or Portland, however, and Phippen told ship’s agents this week that Bar Harbor is prepared to fill in.

Vessels adding a Bar Harbor stop must give the harbor master’s office 48 hours notice, so Coast Guard officials may be notified, and police presence during the ship’s unloading may be arranged, Phippen said.

The Coast Guard is requiring increased security measures for vessels, including an order to examine all provisions that are taken off or on the ships.

A policy of searching incoming oil tankers and cruise ships as deemed necessary by Coast Guard officers was instituted last Wednesday.

The new security measures are not being applied to fishing vessels and small pleasure craft, which make up the majority of traffic at other Mount Desert Island harbors.

No new visits will be added on days when cruise ships already have scheduled Bar Harbor stops, Phippen said. According to the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, 26 cruise ship visits are already scheduled between now and the end of October.