Bay Ferries has announced plans to move the Cat high-speed ferry from Bar Harbor to Portland for summer weekends in 2006. The Cat will offer daily ferry service from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on the weekends while still maintaining its Bar Harbor-to-Yarmouth weekday schedule.
Don Comier, vice president of Cat operations, says Portland offers New England customers easier access to the Cat because of its proximity to Interstate 95.
“We believe that fast ferry service from Portland will be attractive to the New England market,” he said.
The move is technically an experiment, but Comier says Bay Ferries ideally would like to have ferries in both Portland and Bar Harbor.
“Our ultimate goal is to have a ferry on the [Portland] route,” Comier said.
Comier estimates the Portland-Yarmouth ferry route will take about five hours. The Cat is currently scheduled to leave Portland daily at 2:30 p.m., Friday through Sunday from mid-May until October.
The Cat encountered problems when service began several years ago. Local fishermen and pleasure boat captains felt uncomfortable sharing the waters with such a fast, large ship and many felt the Cat cruised into harbor too rapidly.
Initial mistrust intensified after the Cat was involved in a fatal accident with a Nova Scotia fishing boat. Though the Cat’s crew was exonerated of any wrongdoing by Nova Scotian authorities, rumors dogged the ship for several years.
Ron Wanner, a veteran sea kayak guide coordinator who manages Cadillac Mountain Sports in Bar Harbor, says his initial concern with the Cat was that it was unpredictable.
“As a guide out there, you would deal with the Cat like you would the weather,” Wanner said. “The first few years, she was never on time.”
He said the Cat’s erratic schedule made open-water crossings tricky.
“You would be paddling looking over your shoulder,” he said.
But as the Cat’s schedule became more regular, Wanner’s apprehension faded. In his tenure as coordinator, he remembers only one near-miss between the Cat and a tour group. In that instance, he said, it was entirely the tour guide’s fault.
Comier says Bay Ferries will take all the necessary steps to make the transition to Portland a smooth one. His company is currently in talks with the Coast Guard, Portland city officials and local fishermen. Asked if Bay Ferries would do anything different than in Bar Harbor, Comier said no.
“There was absolutely nothing wrong with what we did in Bar Harbor,” he said.
Judith Harris, manager of Portland maritime policy, says the Cat’s transition into Casco Bay should go more smoothly than in Bar Harbor because Portland boaters are accustomed to big-ship traffic. South Portland is one of the largest oil ports on the East Coast and large oil barges pass through the bay routinely.
“Portland is a commercial harbor; Bar Harbor wasn’t really a commercial harbor,” Harris said.
The Cat will fill a void in Portland’s waterfront that was left when the SCOTIA PRINCE discontinued ferry service two years ago. The Cat’s docking payments will make up for $400,000 in annual revenue lost when the SCOTIA PRINCE departed. City officials hope to provide access to the Cat through a new $12 to $15 million dollar ferry terminal when it’s complete.
Local environmental groups are remaining neutral on the Cat until they can get more information. Joe Payne of Friends of Casco Bay says his group will be meeting with Comier to find out the Cat’s plans. Until then, he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“We don’t know what they’re proposing,” Payne said. “We don’t know if it’s problematic or not.”
Payne says the important thing right now is to maintain dialogue with Bay Ferries in order to iron out any problems before the Cat begins operations.
The Cat’s route crosses over endangered right whale breeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine. Comier says his crew is trained to spot whales and there have been no collisions.
But Rosemary Seton, research associate at College of the Atlantic’s Allied Whale program in Bar Harbor, says the Cat is so massive that the crew may not even be aware they have hit anything.
“It’s not as simple as that,” she said. Boat collision is one of the leading causes of human-induced mortality among northern right whales.
Seton says that while any boat could be a danger to whales, faster boats would be hard-pressed to slow down in time to avoid a collision.
“Any of these fast boats that are becoming prevalent are a concern,” she said.