Port of Port Townsend commissioners will not consider a long-term agreement with American Cruise Lines (ACL).

Port Commissioners Pam Petranek, Carol Hasse and Pete Hanke reached the informal consensus during a discussion on Oct. 22 regarding the Port’s 2026 budget and its five-year capital projects plan. 

“The assumption that I personally had that this was a good thing for our downtown merchants and something worthwhile to support has been called into question,” Hasse said. “The decision that the Port Commission has made so far is that we are not comfortable entering into a long-term agreement because it doesn't seem to be what our community wants.” 

Petranek said she has heard “huge pushback” from both businesses and residents regarding a potential deal. 

“This is kind of hot right now, and it doesn't make sense to have it as a priority if our community doesn’t have it as a priority,” she said.

Union Wharf has been slated for $1.2 million in improvements to its docking infrastructure for several years. The Port has sought grant funding annually but has not been successful. 

In July, ACL presented the Port with an idea: in exchange for spending capital dollars on the improvements, they would receive a 20-year, non-exclusive, preferential docking deal at Union Wharf. 

At the time, Port Executive Director Eron Berg emphasized that ACL was not proposing to bring larger ships and that large-scale traffic wasn’t on the table or feasible. 

“Union Wharf can’t support cruise ships like you see going to Alaska. It’s just not feasible,” he said. “You might as well be afraid that 747s are coming to Jefferson County International Airport.”

ACL never got around to submitting a formal proposal to the Port. 

“We never got to the details of, well, what would it look like? How much would it cost? How many nights? How many years?” Berg said. “That never happened.”  

Community feedback led the commission to decide not to pursue a deal with ACL, Berg said. 

“My advocacy for the cruise ships was based on, I thought it really made a difference to Main Street, a positive difference,” Hasse said. “I’ve heard very little positives.”

While not removing the $1.2 million project from its five-year plan, the commission, by nixing any potential deal with ACL, is effectively asking Port staff to go back to the drawing board for funding sources. 

The Port will hold a broader discussion about its relationship with the cruise company during its Nov. 12 business meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Point Hudson Pavilion.

“The question on the table is really, you know, do we do projects at Union Wharf, what does it look like, how intensive a use might the Port allow the ACL to have at Union Wharf in the future,” Berg said. “The three parts of that meeting would be hearing from Main Street about the results of their survey regarding cruise ship impacts on downtown merchants and separately hearing from the community about cruise ships, and then providing some direction about docking rates and fees, maybe limitations on the number of dockings per year, and whether there should be a project and what it might look like in the capital budget.” 

The Port, in its 2026 budget, will consider increasing docking fees for ACL from $1,100 to $2,000. 

“By doing it off the rate card, the commission would be free to maybe decrease the number of dockings, or address any negative impacts in the future, just as they so choose,” Berg said. “When there’s an agreement, of course, that power shifts a little bit. So I think it’s a desire to maintain local control.”