PORTLAND (AP) – A record number of cruise ships are scheduled to visit Maine ports this summer and fall, and it won’t be just Portland and Bar Harbor that reap the benefits.

About 230 cruise ships are scheduled to call in Maine this summer, said Amy Powers of Cruise Maine, which markets the state’s 12 ports to the cruise ship industry.

If each vessel is filled to capacity, that would mean Maine would get the equivalent of 180,000 passenger days, or the number of days that passengers spend in Maine. That would break the record of 147,000 potential passenger days set in 2005.

“It’s a pretty sure thing that this is going to be the largest year ever,” Powers said. “We just hope the weather holds out.”

Bar Harbor is scheduled to get more than 90 ship visits this year, while Portland expects 30 port calls. The biggest jump in passengers will occur in the state’s smaller ports.

Those ports are served by American Cruise Lines, which uses vessels that hold about 50 passengers – just a fraction of what the large ships hold that visit Bar Harbor and Portland.

American Cruise Lines recently launched a new ship, the American Star, which has a capacity of 100 passengers. The ship will depart Bangor on June 16 and travel on a circuit that includes stops in Bucksport, Bar Harbor, Rockland, Castine, Camden and Belfast. It will make cruises each week until Sept. 26.

The company’s smaller vessel, the American Glory, will make five cruises on the same route.

While the ships are small, so are the ports they visit. That means the impact is felt by local businesses, said Linda Silvia of the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s good news for Rockland,” she said. “They don’t have to park. They arrive at the dock. They are looking to shop. They are looking to dine. They are looking to be entertained. They come to spend their time and money.”

Eastport will host a cruise ship on July 5, the first time that’s happened since the early 1990s.