Maine Maritime Museum recognizes an individual or organization as Mariner of the Year for having made extraordinary contributions to Maine’s maritime heritage.
Mariner of the Year Honor Roll
2006 Maritime authors and historians Roger and Mary Duncan
2007 Fisherman, swordfish boat captain, and best-selling author Linda Greenlaw
2008 Renowned boat designer Bruce King
2009 The employees of Bath Iron Works
2010 Maine Maritime Academy President Leonard Tyler
2011 Maine Maritime Museum Senior Curator Nathan Lipfert
2012 Maine Maritime Museum’s Founders, in honor of the 50th Anniversary
2013 National Maritime Historical Society
2014 Shipyard president, businessman, and civic leader William E. Haggett
2015 Port of Portland Board of Harbor Commissioners and Maine Pilotage Commission
2016 Icelandic shipping company Eimskip USA
2017 Maine Built Boats and the Maine Boatbuilding Community
2018 The schooner Mary E’s builders, owners and shipwrights
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Maine Maritime Museum was founded in 1962, and since then has grown into a vital cultural and economic asset for the state of Maine. The 20-acre riverfront campus and 18 buildings house nationally-significant collections including 140 Maine-built watercraft, hundreds of maritime paintings, the largest sculpture in New England, a restored Victorian shipbuilder’s home, and the largest collection of shipbuilding tools anywhere. The Museum’s internationally-recognized library, which is among the ten largest operated by maritime museums in the U.S., accommodates 17,000 volumes, 134,000 photographs in 300 collections, 2,333 linear feet of manuscripts including 562 collections and 4,000 small manuscripts, and 1,800 maps and charts.
Each year, 50,000 people of all ages visit to learn about Maine’s maritime history, art, commerce, shipbuilding, fishing, and associated endeavors. Exhibits, educational programs and publications help instill appreciation for Maine’s unique natural and cultural heritage and reveal opportunities that exist in maritime fields today and for the future. MMM works collaboratively with other nonprofits and community partners to educate local youth and the public at large about Maine’s maritime heritage and promising future. The Museum was re-accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM) in 2011, an honor held by fewer than 5% of America’s 17,500 museums, botanical gardens, zoos and planetariums indicating excellence in programs, policies and governance.
