The debate over Maine’s plans to change where its ferries dock at night has intensified in recent weeks, with officials now raising the possibility that legislation could be introduced to reverse the shift.
During a meeting last week, state officials shared more information about their proposal to start berthing ships used by the Maine State Ferry service overnight on the mainland, rather than on islands off the midcoast and Hancock County. The ferries have spent the night on those islands for decades and sometimes carry islanders experiencing medical emergencies to the mainland.
At the meeting, Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Bruce van Note said that the agency is leaning toward making the change within two years.
The changes are in part motivated by the hope that berthing ships on the mainland would provide a better work-life balance for ferry service employees, helping to recruit workers and fill staffing gaps that contributed to many trip delays and cancellations in the last year, according to the Department of Transportation. They could also reduce the costs associated with housing employees on the islands overnight.
“Right now, this is the direction of the Maine Department of Transportation where we’re going,” van Note said. “We say that with humility and know that there’s going to be a whole bunch of debate.”
Numerous island officials and state legislators raised concerns or questions about the change during the meeting. While none of the lawmakers mentioned plans to file bills related to the changes, van Note expects legislation surrounding the decision to come up in the Legislature.
After officials from Islesboro and North Haven first raised the alarm about the changes in early December, their counterparts on Swan’s Island more recently joined the debate as well.
While their primary frustration is that islands would lose out on a reliable means of emergency medical transport, Swan’s Island officials have also lumped their concerns in with those about other changes the ferry service is planning — specifically, its plans to begin using hybrid and electric-capable ferries.
In a letter to van Note, the Swan’s Island Select Board argued that electric vessels are unreliable, expensive and at increased risk of fire because of lithium batteries.
Jason Joyce, a member of the Swan’s Island Select Board, said in an interview that he believes the ferry service is moving toward berthing the boats on the mainland so they can charge overnight. While Joyce acknowledged the state makes sacrifices to ensure that islanders can access the mainland, he doesn’t think electric ferries warrant changing the overnight berthing arrangement.
“What you’re doing is you’re taking funds, and you’re taking it from funds that would be put towards providing better service to this virtue signaling of moving to these electric boats,” Joyce said at last week’s meeting.
But Paul Merrill, a spokesperson for Department of Transportation, said the agency is not redirecting funds to pay for adoption of the electric-capable ferries. He said that costs for personnel, infrastructure and other expenses for the ferry service are separate.
“The capital funding dedicated to ferry construction cannot simply be redirected to hiring more workers. The same goes for discretionary grants we are awarded for ferry construction. Salaries are an operating cost subject to the 50 percent state-50 percent customer revenue formula,” Merrill said.
In 2024, 81 percent of the service’s $34.7 million in operating costs were funded by state and federal contributions, while the rest came from customer revenue.
Merrill maintained that the agency’s primary reason for the change in overnight ferry berthing is better work-life balance for personnel.
The department has also said that, if it changes where the ferries berth, it would provide separate emergency vessels to provide medical transport from the islands at night — although island officials have argued their communities could incur other costs if the shift happens.
