Bar Harbor, Maine has fined a cruise port operator for violating strict cruise passenger limits.
The town says it is imposing a $4 million fine on Goden Anchor LC which owns two cruise ship piers.
Town officials say Goden Anchor LC allowed thousands of cruise ship passengers to disembark while it didn’t have the necessary permits as required by a new ordnance.
Golden Anchor has already challenged the decision that upheld the town’s notice of violation against it earlier in January this year.
In late 2024 the residents of Bar Harbor passed an ordnance which placed a 1,000-passenger daily cap on cruise arrivals.
It also required port facilities to have permits.
Last year the town welcomed nearly 100,000 cruise passengers but this year it is expected to decline due to the new cruise passenger cap.
The pier operator initially appealed but Bar Harbor has now escalated its enforcement with a Notice of Violation which states it operated as an unlicensed ‘cruise ship disembarkation facility.’
“Having completed the local administrative appeal of the Code Enforcement Officer’s notice of violation, this is the next step in recovering fines and asking the Court to order the pier owner to follow the law,” town council officials said in a statement.
The next step is a court hearing scheduled for next month in the Maine District Court.
