Cat ferry swept for explosive device after bomb threat phoned in

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

A bomb threat delayed the Cat ferry’s sailing out of Bar Harbor, Maine on Thursday morning, but after a thorough sweep of the vessel the threat was determined not to be a valid one and the ship was cleared for sailing.

The incident did delay the 8 a.m. start time of the crossing by several hours. It was anticipated that the Cat would arrive in Yarmouth sometime after 4 p.m., around the same time it was due to head back to Portland for its afternoon crossing. Staff at the terminal on Water Street said the turnaround would take place as quickly as possible so that the Cat’s afternoon crossing would not be too far behind schedule.

Don Cormier, the vice-president of operations and safety management for Bay Ferries, says the phoned-in bomb threat was “pretty vague.” Regardless, he said, the matter was taken very serious.

“Our response is the safety of our passengers and crew. We immediately initiated our emergency plans, which resulted in our conducting a sweep and a search of the vessel,” Cormier said.

The sweep resulted in nothing being found, however as an added precaution dogs trained to identify explosive devices was also brought on site and did a complete sweep of the vessel, which, Cormier said, again confirmed the suspicion that this was not a valid threat.

Bar Harbor and state police, along with the Coast Guard, were also involved in investigating the threat.

“Everybody was satisfied that the vessel was clear and safe to travel, so we loaded passengers and we left,” he said.