Portland Cruise Control in the News

Portland's Public Health Director will unveil a plan to the city council Tuesday on how the city should handle a cruise ship with a disease outbreak on board.

Matthew Day, Co-Founder of the group Portland Cruise Control, said the city should have more detailed procedures.

"Right now there's no docking or quarantining procedures for when the Harbor Master should deny entry to the port or that a ship should be quarantined if there's an outbreak," Day said

Day said there is very little municipal planning information on the topic.

We can make cleaner fuel change a condition of entry into our port through a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Also called community benefit agreements, enforceable arrangements like this have been reached in ports around the world as peer-reviewed science documenting the damage caused by scrubbers has become irrefutable. Coastal communities that rely on healthy waters to support commercial fisheries, aquaculture and sensitive marine ecosystems are no longer willing to sacrifice air quality or marine economies to appease the cruise industry.

Why is Portland willing?

Portland needs to join with other port communities all over the world in banning scrubber wash discharge. Not only would this end the water pollution caused by scrubbers, but it would also reduce particulate air pollution by 70%.

As ship numbers surge, so does their pollution. It is imperative that we act now. It is no longer acceptable to allow the cruise industry to pollute Portland with impunity. We just need the courage to demand this change.

JoAnn Locktov, co-founder of the community group Portland Cruise Control, says she believes local residents deserve to know more when outbreaks like this happen on visiting vessels.

“I think it is also incumbent that the city alert its residents,” Locktov said. She’s especially concerned for Portland’s hospitality workers, who interact with large numbers of visitors every day.

The city finally conceded to citizens pressure Friday to warn residents of the arrival of a cruise ship Sunday with the highest levels of norovirus this year tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A cruise ship arriving in Portland on Sunday has recorded the highest levels of norovirus this year for any ship where an outbreak was tracked by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Passengers who are symptomatic are required to be isolated in their rooms, the CDC said, and the ship must be disinfected and cleaned. People who are asymptomatic with the norovirus can spread the disease, the CDC said, including to people while the ship is in port.

The group "Portland Cruise Control" wants the city to ban scrubber wash, the often-untreated discharge from systems that remove contaminants from marine engine exhaust.

JoAnn Locktov formed Portland Cruise Control with concerned residents Matthew Day and Maggy Wolf, to reduce the pollution from cruise ships in the port. Locktov said the city council workshop Wednesday provided a lot of information, but more is needed about the harm's scrubber wash poses to people.

As cruise ships continue to arrive along Maine's coastline this summer, a local environmental group is calling on the city of Portland to take stronger steps to reduce pollution from those vessels.

Portland Cruise Control said it proposed a ban on scrubber wash discharge in Portland Harbor. It's the wastewater produced when cruise ships clean their exhaust systems. The group explained discharge is a contributor to ocean pollution and allows ships to burn cheaper, more harmful fuel.

The proposal, submitted by Portland Cruise Control, is expected to be evaluated by a City Council subcommittee in the fall.

Under the Portland group’s proposal, ships would be required to use a clean distillate fuel like marine grade oil for the eight hours they are allowed to dock in the harbor. The ships also would be banned from releasing discharge while docked.

Producer Marina Henke spent the months leading up to the 2025 cruise season charting these muddy waters. For small coastal cities like Portland, are cruise ships really the economic generator that the industry claims them to be?

NHPR Outside/In podcast

Portland also is showing signs of pushback against the industry, with a group called Portland Cruise Control forming this spring to scrutinize the ships' impact on the city.

"It was because of all the people who voiced their dismay over the pollution being caused by the MSC Meraviglia that the ship has now made a critical change in the quality of our air and water. The cruise industry must be held accountable for the pollution they cause. I don't want people to ever forget that their voices can create a positive difference. I applaud the city for listening, reacting, and finding a solution to the negative environmental impacts of the ship."

While some local businesses see a boost in sales from cruise passengers, some residents have concerns about crowding and the environmental impact of the ships.

A new community group, Portland Cruise Control, is working to raise awareness about what they say are negative impacts of the cruise industry.

Along with any benefits, there are great costs to having cruise ships, including devastating air and water pollution and negative cultural impacts. We believe the responsibility of eliminating the pollution belongs to the cruise lines, but it is up to the people of Portland to hold them accountable and prevent them from damaging our beautiful city.