Cruise passengers at Patriots Point leave waves in their wake (2024)

The talk of the town may be the push for Mount Pleasant to play more of a role in the cruise line industry, but public officials took symbolic action this week to quell the chatter.

Elected officials passed a resolution May 14 to take a fresh stance on the issue, which arose after a commercial boat tour tenant at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum ferried passengers from an anchored cruise ship to the state-owned visitor attraction, where they boarded a chartered bus to downtown Charleston.

The town determined that was violated South Carolina law and local zoning regulations.

Under the newly passed resolution, Mount Pleasant Town Council reaffirmed an existing state statute that “prohibits utilizing any piers, ships, docks, quays or similar structures at Patriots Point for any active ocean-going cargo or passenger vessels, which includes but is not limited to, utilizing Patriots Point as an embarkation port, disembarkation port, port of call or to otherwise load and unload passengers of cruise ships.”

Mayor Will Haynie said the statement reinforces Mount Pleasant government’s interpretation of existing regulations.

Councilmember John Iacofano called resolution a “glorified formal letter,” saying it did not add any new laws or ordinances. He said that while he’s against cruise ships in Mount Pleasant, he worried it could be perceived as the town interjecting itself in a contractual matter between the tour boat operator and Patriots Point.

“The only way that we can stop or prevent cruise ships in the town of Mount Pleasant is through our zoning, not through what is already the state law,” he added.

No residents spoke for or against the resolution during Tuesday’s meeting, and the vote to pass it was unanimous. Councilmember Gary Santos, who works in the maritime industry, abstained citing a potential conflict of interest.

The town and Patriots Point said they weren’t aware of the arrangement between locally based SpiritLine Cruises and the pleasure ship operator. It came to light when Patriots Point was accidentally copied on an email about scheduling buses to pick passengers up from a visiting Viking cruise ship, Haynie said.

“We had no idea,” he said after a May 6 committee meeting to discuss the issue.

Haynie, who also is on the Patriots Point Development Authority, said it created an awkward situation.

“What do you do at that point?” he said. “The ship was already on its way in, and we don’t want to cause a scene for visitors at the dock.”

The town’s interpretation was that cruise ships can’t use their own boats or others to take passengers to Patriots Point.

Wayne Adams, acting chair of the Patriots Point board, said the state agency is looking into the use of tenders at the dock leased to SpiritLine and Fort Sumter Tours.

“As has been noted, our enabling legislation does prohibit use of Patriots Point by active cruise ships,” Adams said.

David Papliarini, the town’s legal counsel, said a more through investigation could be launched depending on how many times cruise ship passengers have been transported to Patriots Point.

In a written statement, the parent of SpiritLine said one ship “did utilize this service” in April under what it described as an existing agreement.

“We will work closely with local and public officials if there needs to be any modifications to these trips moving forward,” the company said last week.

Haynie said he hopes the resolution will put to rest any further talk of Mount Pleasant becoming a cruise-ship hub.

“Yes there’s a museum, golf course and hotels coming to Patriots Point, but never has it been part of the plans to put a cruise ship terminal at Patriots Point,” he said.