Private dock collapses into Northeast Harbor

MOUNT DESERT – A private dock that belonged to the late Bangor businessman and philanthropist Larry Mahaney collapsed into the ocean Tuesday evening, according to the harbor master in Northeast Harbor.

“What happened is [a] piece rotted out and broke, and the whole thing went down,” Shawn Murphy, the harbor master, said Wednesday. “I was sitting here and heard a crunch.”

No one was hurt in the unusual incident – the first time in Murphy’s six years of working at the harbor that he can recall a dock collapsing in this manner.

Mahaney died in February in Florida, but had a house in the village of Northeast Harbor, where he used the 50-foot-long dock that is adjacent to the town’s boat launch facility.

“Maybe it’s not pressure treated. Maybe it’s just old. I don’t know,” Murphy said. “At least it’s early in the season.”