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NEWS
Harbor Cruises will begin a daily summer ferry service between Cruiseport Gloucester and Provincetown.
Beginning July 1 and running through labor Day 2008, Harbor Cruises intends to begin ferrying passengers from Cruiseport Gloucester to Provincetown. This was announced by Senator Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, at the Seaport Advisory Council meeting on April 1, 2008.
Rick Nolan, owner of Boston Harbor Cruises, said the trip of roughly 40 miles, would take 2 1/2 hours by sea. The highway trip between Gloucester and Provincetown covers 155 miles and takes about 3 1/2 hours without traffic backups figuring in.
Frank Elliott, who operates Elliott Shipping and is a minority owner of Cruiseport met with Nolan and proposed the idea. Both Nolan and Elliott believe tourists will prefer the ferry to the highway. Many, they believe, will take advantage of the opportunity to remain overnight on Cape Cod or in Gloucester. The cost of the round trip service is expected to be $70.
The Massachusetts' Seaport Council, met at Cruiseport Gloucester for the first time. During this meeting it approved a $400,000 grant to pay for an economic development plan for Gloucester Harbor. Gloucester was once the #1 fishing port in America. It has now slipped to 10th place, largely because of federal fishing regulations.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk told the council the city needs to find ways to "turn the lights back on". She expressed the concern of working between the federal fishing regulations and the state government which controls much of the waterfront inside a Designated Port Area. The state has expressed the aim of keeping shore side fishing infrastructure until the fishery recovers.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk said, "We're at a crossroads. Federal fishing regulations are reducing the very use that we're reserved for."
This coming summer the demand for ferry service between Gloucester and Provincetown will be tested. If it is successful, it could create future interest in the harbor for non-fishing uses.
Both ports of Gloucester and Provincetown are involved in an effort brought about by the Seaport Council to take the cruise economy to the next level by marketing themselves and other Massachusetts' ports in a 'Historic Ports of Massachusetts' initiative.
Along with the $400,000 grant for a Gloucester Harbor business plan, the Seaport Council also authorized $250,000 for floating docks and $22,000 to help pay for the reconstruction of the Blynman Canal seawall.
Note: This story was taken from a Gloucester Daily News article written by Richard Gaines, and published on April 2, 2008.