U.S. law to cut into port profits

A new federal law could force vacationers to change cruise plans.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Portland’s gleaming, $21 million terminal for cruise ships and ferries will open this spring. Another $7 million berth built to accommodate the world’s largest cruise ships will follow next year.

There’s one problem.

Because of a proposed change in federal rules, the city that’s banking on cruise ships and their passengers to pump millions of dollars into its economy is now wondering how many, if any, cruise ships will be calling this summer.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection proposal would require foreign-flagged cruise ships that depart from a U.S. port to spend 48 hours in a foreign port. It would also require them to spend more than 24 hours in a foreign port for every two days in a U.S. port.

More time in foreign ports would mean less in U.S. ports, and fewer tourists to spill out of the ships and spend money in places like Portland.

“It could be potentially devastating. There’s no question about that,” said Jeff Monroe, the city’s transportation director.

The proposed change is aimed at helping U.S.-flagged cruise ships based in Hawaii to compete against foreign cruise ships sailing from California by reducing the foreign ships’ time in the islands. It would close a loophole that allowed foreign-flagged ships to sail from U.S. ports to Hawaii by stopping briefly in Mexico on the way.

Critics say the sweeping change will imperil hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues and port improvements on the mainland U.S.

“They’ve sunk all of this money into cruise facilities and now the government is changing the rules,” said Aaron Ellis, communications director for the American Association of Port Authorities, one of many groups trying to change the rules.

The Cruise Lines International Association, which represents 24 operators, warns that about 10 million U.S. vacationers stand to have their cruises altered or canceled unless the federal proposal is changed.

In Portland, Monroe predicts that up to 80 percent of cruise ships would have to alter their itineraries. To meet the rules, they might drop Bar Harbor and Portland from their summer and fall cruises on the East Coast.

Together, the two Maine ports accounted for 120 cruise ship stops last year. More than 150,000 tourists disembarked from the ships, spending money in shops, dining in restaurants and taking shore excursions.