Landing school roller coaster
After almost 48 years of training boatbuilders, designers and technicians for maritime careers, the Landing School announced in May that it was closing. As commentators on social media and elsewhere expressed shock at the news and wondered why the school had not explored other outcomes, the school’s leaders sent out a follow-up statement within a week saying that the Northeast Maritime Institute in Fairhaven, Massachusetts had thrown out a lifeline.
The sudden news about the closing came in a note on social media and on the school’s web page from President John Caron and Susan Swanton, chair of the school’s board of trustees. In their release, Caron and Swanton blamed the decision to close on steadily declining enrollment; and they offered refunds to students who had made deposits for the 2026-2027 academic year.
The second note, also from Caron and Swanton, carried better news: the establishment of a memorandum of understanding with Northeast Maritime Institute - College of Maritime Science, establishing a collaborative framework through which The Landing School’s educational mission, institutional legacy, and community presence might continue. In this second notice, Swanton and Caron said deposits “will continue to be securely maintained during this accelerated diligence period. However, any student who wishes to request the return of their deposit may do so expressly and directly through The Landing School.”
While details remain to be worked out, both institutions were committed to conducting an expedited evaluation process over the next 30 days, according to the second note.
“Please know that every effort is being made to preserve continuity, stability, and confidence in the future of The Landing School. Students who have already committed to programs are strongly encouraged to remain engaged during this process as the institutions work diligently toward a sustainable operational pathway that protects educational opportunities and preserves the school’s unique identity,” Swanton and Caron wrote.
Founded in 1981, Northeast Maritime Institute – College of Maritime Science is a private maritime educational institution, recognized internationally for workforce development, maritime safety, technical education, simulation-based training, and credentialing programs supporting the maritime, transportation, offshore energy, and marine industries.
“Our objective is not simply to preserve a school, but to help protect a legacy, support its students and faculty, and work collaboratively toward a future where The Landing School can continue serving its community for decades to come,” said Eric R. Dawicki, president of Northeast Maritime Institute – College of Maritime Science.
Neither the first notice nor the second mentioned what will happen with The Landing School’s building in Arundel, equipment, and historical collection.
Nuclear degree
Meanwhile, in more education news, Maine Maritime Academy will become the first maritime college in the country to offer a major in nuclear engineering technology.
According to a story in the Bangor Daily News, the academy is receiving a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish a Center for Education and Training of the Nuclear Merchant Mariner. The new major will be offered in the fall of 2027. The nuclear engineering program at the academy is designed to both capitalize on recent advances in developing small modular reactors, while serving the existing network of commercial, legacy nuclear power plants across the country through workforce development, according to the BDN.
West Marine files Chapter 11
Retailer West Marine, which specializes in boating supplies and fishing gear, has filed for bankruptcy protections as it works to reduce debt and stabilize operations.
The restructuring is intended to address the company’s capital structure, improve liquidity, and position the business for long-term sustainability, according to news reports and company statements.
The company has said that operations will continue uninterrupted during the Chapter 11 process. Customers will still have access to products through roughly 200 retail locations across 34 states and Puerto Rico, as well as through its online platforms and mobile app.
However, according to a report in Mainebiz online, the company plans to close its two Maine stores, in Portland and Southwest Harbor.
Lyman-Morse adds new building
The Thomaston- and Camden-based boatbuilder has begun building a new 15,000 square foot facility to support large-scale composite fabrication and assembly. The new building marks a significant expansion of its manufacturing facilities in Thomaston. It will join the company’s workboat division and technologies building, which houses CNC and metal additive equipment.
The combination of the three facilities allows the company to support a wide range of applications from marine systems and vessels to industrial components and specialty projects.
The new clear-span building will include a radiant floor heat system, integrated compressed air lines, vacuum pumps, and IT infrastructure. Two 5-ton overhead cranes will enable efficient movement of large structures, according to the release.
“This project is about building capacity for the long-term,” said Lyman-Morse President Drew Lyman, “We’re creating a facility that not only supports our current work but positions us for the next generation of manufacturing challenges.”
Cunning lobster predator
A scientist at the University of Maine is studying whether lobsters are being consumed by a long-known fish predator, the cunner, in a new way. Native to the Gulf of Maine, cunner are known to eat young lobster in the benthic stage, as well as small clams and snails. But increasingly, commercial lobstermen are finding cunner caught in their traps and have shared photos of cunner with lobster eggs in their mouth, according to a news release.
Lobster and cunner have coexisted for a long time, but this would be a new behavior and new dynamic within the rocky substrate where both species reside.
If fishermen or other stakeholders find cunner with lobster eggs in their mouths, the Staudinger Lab is asking they send photos to 508-348-9039 or cunner.maine@gmail.com with the date the fish was captured and its location.
Shipwreck dispute
The state of Maine and a private company are tussling over who owns a shipwreck off the coast of Mt. Desert Island.
The Delhi, loaded with 32,000 granite pavers, sank in 1893. The company, JJM, filed a salvage rights claim to the ship in U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor in March 2024, according to a story in the Bangor Daily News.
But the state disagrees and has filed suit arguing that it owns all unclaimed shipwrecks lying in state waters.
The ship sank in Somes Sound after it was loaded with 32,000 granite paving stones in Hall Quarry, according to the BDN story.
JJM wants to recover the pavers and artifacts and then donate the artifacts to museums, the company has said.
The salvage firm filed suit in September against the National Park Service after the service determined the shipwreck is eligible for listing in the National Register. That lawsuit was still pending at press time, according to the BDN.
New TowBoatUS ports
BoatUS members in Maine now have access to two new on-water towing assistance ports. Parker Poole of Determination Marine has added TowBoatUS ports in Portland and Harpswell, according to a new release.
Poole will provide expanded on-water towing assistance, fuel delivery, jump-starts, and soft ungroundings to recreational boaters and the more than 4,000 BoatUS members living in Maine.
Across both ports, six towing response vessels from 17 to 44 feet, crewed by Coast Guard-licensed captains, will be ready to respond to calls for help.
Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) offers saltwater towing memberships for a set yearly fee.
Where is Ceres?
Has anyone seen a ship’s figurehead of Ceres that once adorned a vessel named Glenmorag? Ryan Mayfield’s family owned the artifact but lost it in 1983 when his grandmother failed to pay the person restoring the figurehead. Mayfield’s great-great-grandfather, William Begg was an able-bodied seaman on Glenmorag. While carrying a cargo from Chile to Portland, Oregon, the vessel wrecked at the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington State. Begg salvaged the figurehead and it remained in the family for nearly 90 years. The last trace Mayfield can find is April 28, 1991, when Ceres was sold at auction in New London, Conn. If you have information on where to locate this family heirloom, drop a note to editor@maineboats.com.
Cruise ship study
The City of Rockland has initiated a study of the impact of tourism from cruise ships. The goal, according to a news release, is “to provide the community with the data and analysis it needs to make informed decisions about the future of cruise tourism.”
Consultant Sarah Fink, who is with the Portland-based Spring Line Group, will undertake the research and data analysis with the help of Brenda Garrand, a tourism management professional who represents the PortShare Promise portion of the project. PortShare Promise is a program of CruiseMaine, a group with ties to state agencies and port communities.
“We are taking a structured, transparent and data-driven approach to ensure that cruise tourism supports Rockland’s economy and harbor, while supporting the community and working waterfront for the future,” said Rockland City Manager Tom Luttrell.
Cruise ship ruling
Meanwhile, in Bar Harbor, a federal judge ruled that a citizen-approved ordinance to limit cruise ships to 1,000 passengers or less can only apply to ships visiting in July and August.
The Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods, the Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association, and some other local businesses involved with cruise ship tendering sued the town in 2022 over new voter-approved cruise ship disembarkation limits, calling them unconstitutional.
After four years of legal back and forth, the judge’s recent decision came down in May.
“I conclude that the ordinance’s 1,000-passenger cap is not clearly excessive in relation to its local benefits during the peak summer tourism season but is clearly excessive in relation to the shoulder seasons,” U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker wrote in his decision. “Accordingly, I declare the ordinance unconstitutional and unenforceable in all months other than July and August.”
Since the ordinance took effect, cruise ship visits to Bar Harbor had dropped significantly, according to a news story in the online Bar Harbor Story.
The town has been studying tourism and its impact through a Sustainable Tourism Task Force. It’s also capped short-term vacation rentals in homes that are not a primary residence and adopted a lodging moratorium, according to the news site.
The backers of the initial ordinance have said they plan to appeal the ruling.
Electric news
Island Institute, which has been studying and demonstrating alternative sources of power for maritime applications, has partnered with the Spruce Head Fisherman’s Co-op, Fogg’s Boatworks, and ePropulsion, through its North American distributor Mack Boring and Parts, to launch its newest electric-powered vessel, Wattson. The boat will be used to support daily co-op operations using ePropulsion’s X-20 powered by a G230 23.5-kWh battery. The 16-foot aluminum alloy skiff will tackle nearshore commercial operations, such as towing lobster crates at the Spruce Head Co-op.
Although the vessel spends most of its time cruising below 5 mph it can achieve a planing speed of 13 mph.
Wharf dispute
A dispute over access to the working waterfront in South Thomaston has prompted the town’s selectmen to establish a post for a harbormaster in the hopes that person will be able to mediate the dispute.
The disagreement between lobster dealers Atwood Lobster and the Spruce Head Fishermen’s Co-op on Spruce Head began, according to a story in the Midcoast Villager, when Maine Lobster and Processing, which owns Atwood, proposed expanding its bait storage building deck area. The co-op contends that this would further constrict the navigational corridor used by its members’ vessels. The expansion would increase navigational conflicts and safety risks, the co-op warned.
Maine Lobster also proposes constructing a new 16-foot-by-28-foot floating dock system.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection approved the expansion of Maine Lobster and Processing’s wharf system last January. But the co-op filed an appeal to the Board of Environmental Protection the following month.
Maine Lobster is a subsidiary of Mazzetta Co. of Highland Park, Illinois, which bills itself as one of the world’s largest importers and producers of shrimp, mussels, lobsters, crab and finfish. The conglomerate purchased the longtime family-owned Atwood Lobster business in Spruce Head in 2011, according to the Villager story.
The co-op, which serves 40 lobstermen has operated at its Spruce Head location since 1972.
Congratulations to Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins, a writer whose work is often featured in MBH&H, was honored by the Board of Directors at the 51st Fishermen’s Forum with a Distinguished Service Award. Robbins has spent decades in the fishing industry, first actively fishing and later as a writer.
The award from the Fishermen’s Forum, where Robbins served as a board member for many years, honored both his service to the forum and his long-time work at Commercial Fisheries News, according to a news story in the Island Advantages weekly newspaper. At CFN, he was both a regular columnist and, at the time of its closing in December 2025, senior editor.
Tom Duym, fisheries education specialist at the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, who has known Robbins since the 1990s, presented Robbins with the award and a bottle of Crown Royal. “Brian and his brother, Steve, had a band, and rumor has it that Crown Royal was the band’s beverage of choice,” Duym said.
Brian and Steve Robbins were among the first offshore lobstermen in Maine. Brian began writing full-time after he gave up fishing. “When you think about the politics of things, leading the way, causes, and rallying folks together, I never did any of that. I don’t know about distinguished service. I don’t think I fit the bill,” Robbins said. “But I would definitely accept an award for being lucky.”
Port Clyde rebuilds
Colby College, which bought the Port Clyde General Store and wharf last November in the wake of a devastating fire there, is moving ahead with redevelopment of the property.
Replacement of the wharf at the former Port Clyde General Store and a rebuild of the building will be done this year, a Colby College executive has told the town, according to a news report in the Portland Press Herald. A primary goal is to ensure that the “working” aspect of the waterfront remains intact.
The redevelopment plan includes the continued use of the former wharf and fuel pumps, and seasonal rental operation of the moorings in the harbor. Replacement of the wharf will begin in early summer and is projected to be completed by November, according to the story.
Construction of the main building will begin in early spring 2027. The building on the site of the former general store will house a restaurant at the street level, with offices for the Center for Resilience and Economic Impact above, to include a community gathering space.
The college has been working with the Northlight Foundation—led by long time Port Clyde residents Dan and Sheryl Tishman.The architectural design will be done by Oak Point Associates, engineering by Gartley & Dorsky, and construction management by Wright-Ryan.
Postage due
Midcoast islands saw a brief pause in mail delivery earlier this spring because of an unpaid bill. Penobscot Island Air, which delivers the mail to the islands, stopped the service for a day to bring attention to the nearly $400,000 it said it was owed by the US Postal Service, according to a story in the Portland Press Herald.
Mail delivery resumed when the government agency agreed to pay a quarter of the balance. In its post announcing the pause in mail delivery, Penobscot Island Air said it had ferried mail on 75 days so far in 2026 and not been paid for any of those deliveries.
“While our mission is to support the islands, PIA employees need a paycheck,” the air service said. “We can’t operate as a business if almost a fifth of our yearly revenue is tied up in the bureaucracy of the United States government.”
Chicken bebop
It’s not maritime news, but who can resist the world’s oldest chicken?
According to the Portland Press Herald, Gertie, who lives in Portland, has been listed by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living chicken. Gertie turns 16 in July. A Golden Sebright, a British ornamental breed, she’s also what’s known as a bantam, a miniature bird that produces smaller eggs.
Her owner, Frank Turek, who keeps other chickens outside in a coop, says Gertie lives in a makeshift crate in his house and is a household pet along with two cats and a great dane. She perks up whenever she hears bebop jazz and responds when her name is called.
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