Portland will increase its tariffs on cruise ships in 2027, while also adding a discounted rate to encourage ships anchored in the harbor to use cleaner fuels.
Officials said Thursday the coming changes came partially in response to councilors and the public looking to minimize the use of heavy fuel oil and the exhaust gas cleaning systems — commonly referred to as “scrubbers” — that are required to clean those emissions.
Ships that use low-sulfur fuels such as marine gas oil while at berth will receive a $2 discount per passenger, a city news release said.
As citizen groups like Portland Cruise Control have pressed for more attention on the environmental impact of cruise ships, the city’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee has been reviewing options to eliminate the discharge of washer water into Portland harbor.
Scrubbers allow ships to use cheaper heavy fuel oil as a power source, but the discharged wastewater contains acidic pollutants that can be harmful to marine wildlife and the ocean. Portland Cruise Control has called for an outright ban on the use of scrubbers in Portland harbor.
City Manager Danielle West said her office has taken feedback from the committee and the public seriously and that the addition of discounted rates for cleaner fuels “will help us move toward” the goal of having ships use low-sulfur fuels.
For every ship that carries more than 1,000 passengers, the city charges a per-passenger fee and infrastructure fee. Both fees will increase incrementally between 2027-2030.
The total per-passenger charge this year, $21, will rise to $25 in 2027. The discounted rate for fuel alternatives will be $23 per passenger.
By 2030 the per-passenger fee will rise to $24 per passenger by 2030, and the infrastructure fee, which pays for current and future improvements to waterfront facilities, will increase to $7.
For example, the Dutch cruise ship Zuiderdam, which has 1,916 guests, will pay $40,236 in passenger and infrastructure fees for each of the nearly 20 times it’s in Portland this year. In 2027, that figure would be $47,900, or $44,068 if it used cleaner fuel.
A larger ship like Independence of the Seas, with 4,375 guests, would pay $91,875 this year, and $109,375 in 2027. By 2030, the rate would be $135,625.
Those estimates do not include other fees included for water, security, and other logistical items.
The city’s total cruise ship revenue for fiscal year 2025 was $3.86 million. Roughly 85 ships — some of them anchoring several times — are scheduled to dock in Portland harbor this year.
City Councilor Regina Phillips, chair of the sustainability and transportation committee, said she’s “thankful these discounted rates have been added to help encourage the use of cleaner fuels.”
The tariffs apply to the two city-owned facilities at the Portland Ocean Terminal and Maine State Pier and Ocean Gateway Terminal.
Portland will increase cruise ship tariffs in 2027
