Miramant bill would create liquor license for overnight cruises

Posted: January 24, 2017 | Senator Miramant, Veterans and Legal Affairs

Legislation would cut red tape for vessels to offer drinks on pleasure trips

AUGUSTA — A bill by Sen. Dave Miramant, D-Camden, would allow windjammers, schooners and other vessels to offer overnight excursions during which passengers may buy or consume beers and spirits, a cut in red tape that will allow Maine’s fleet of commercial recreational vehicles to meet growing demand.

The bill — LD 85, “An Act to Establish a Public Service Berthing Vessel License for the Sale of Liquor” — received a public hearing before the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Monday. The legislation would create a new category of liquor license for ships, boats, and vessels that are registered for overnight passengers. Current state law does not allow this type of vessel to obtain a liquor license.

“Maine’s reputation as a producer for high-quality beer and spirits is growing, and local, coastal businesses that offer overnight cruises are increasingly faced with demand to offer those products to passengers,” said Sen. Miramant. “Unfortunately, Maine’s current regulatory system on alcoholic beverages leaves these businesses with no tenable options to meet that demand. This bill would fix that.

The owners of the Windjammer Angelique of Camden requested Sen. Miramant to submit the bill after learning there was no license available to fit their desire to offer beer and wine cruises to potential customers.

“Our industry has had to adapt to the changing demands of the tourist trade,” said Captain Dennis Gallant and Candace Kuchinski, owners of the Angelique. “To attract new guests, we need to offer more than fantastic sailing in Maine and the unspoiled beauty of our coastline. To this end, we o er tours of Acadia National Park on some of our cruises, a yoga cruise, parades of sail, and Windjammer races. Marketing beer and wine tasting cruises seemed like a natural extension of our schedule.”

Available licenses would have been prohibitively expensive, and would have barred passengers from bringing their own alcohol aboard, even when the Angelique was not selling alcoholic beverages.

The only other option would have been for the Angelique to hire licensed caterers — creating additional costs for the Angelique not only in fees for catering, but in revenue lost in providing berths to the caterers, who would occupy rooms that would normally have sold for anywhere from $800 to $1,400.

“The cost to maintain an antique fleet of sailing vessels has risen quickly. These businesses cannot afford to lose revenue or disappoint potential customers for reasons outside their control,” Sen. Miramant said. “Luckily, Maine’s Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations says there is a path forward to create a new license within the existing regulatory framework that can meet these businesses’ needs. This bill is that path forward.”

LD 85 faces further action in the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, and votes in the House and Senate.

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