Adverse effect on American cruise industry

State and city leaders in Maine have realised that new legislation designed to try and help the American cruise industry may have an adverse effect on their own cruise tourism.

The proposed rule concerns foreign-flagged cruise ships and, if enacted will force those ships to stay in a foreign port for forty-eight hours to allow passengers to go ashore, while now such port calls only have to last twelve hours. This means that most cruise ships would probably make two port visits in Canada, meaning they would spend less or no time Maine. The Maine and New England coasts have become popular as part of heritage cruises that focus on American history - 32 cruise ships are scheduled to dock in Portland this summer, 80% of them foreign-flagged and a further 102 are scheduled to dock in Bar Harbor. The new legislation would require them all to change their itineraries.