Bar Harbor ship pier considered

BAR HARBOR – The state plans to study the feasibility of building a pier to accommodate cruise ships, either at the Bay Ferries terminal or in a downtown location, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The pier would have to be 400 to 500 feet long to service the scores of huge cruise ships that stop in Bar Harbor during the busy summer tourism season, Harbor Master Charlie Phippin said.

A new pier off the town’s existing pier also could serve as a breakwater for the harbor and provide more shelter from the elements for both commercial and recreational boaters, Phippin said.

The study would not be conducted at least until fall and perhaps not until next year, according to Brian Nutter, Maine Port Authority executive director. He said the state has considered building a deep water pier in Bar Harbor for decades, but is now ready to study the cost and impact of the project.

“We’re looking at it, but we haven’t made any commitment to go forward,” Nutter said Tuesday. “We do a lot of studies that we don’t go forward on.”

Nutter said the port authority had hoped to conduct the study earlier in the year, but other projects have consumed the staff’s time.

Risteen Masters, marketing director for Bay Ferries, which operates the high-speed catamaran ferry between Bar Harbor and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, confirmed Tuesday that the company is willing to talk about partnering with the state.

“We’re open to exploring all sorts of things,” she said. “We’re always open to talking to the [Maine Department of Transportation] about any ideas they have, and that extends to the port authority. Whether it comes to fruition or not, who knows?”

Clare Bingham, Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce executive director, said the business community would oppose a pier at the Bay Ferries terminal because passengers would get off the cruise ships and onto tour buses, bypassing the entire downtown business district.

A recent University of Maine study showed that cruise ship passengers pump about $12 million into the Bar Harbor economy annually.

Bingham said 50 percent of the passengers walk to the downtown when they arrive at the town pier. That would change if the ships docked at the Bay Ferries terminal farther up the coastline.

The town also would lose the cruise ship fees that help finance the town pier and harbor operations. The larger ships pay $1,000 each to anchor off the Bar Harbor pier, Phippin said. Of the 72 ships scheduled to make stops in Bar Harbor this summer, only about a dozen are small enough to avoid the fee.

Currently, cruise ships anchor well off the town pier, and passengers are shuttled into town by private boat operators. Nutter said some cruise ships, such as Carnival Cruises, refuse to stop in ports that do not have piers.

Nutter said the feasibility study would not be costly because much of the work could be done by staff. He said engineering and technical work would be contracted.