The Italian government is moving forward with its efforts to
take advantage of the current pause in the cruise operations to enforce a
permanent ban on large cruise ships from docking at the historic city of
Venice. Previous efforts at restricting cruise ships from the Venice lagoon
have not been successful despite complaints that the large cruise ships are
contributing to the environmental issues confronting the city.
“Anyone who has passed through Venice in recent years, an
Italian citizen or a citizen of the world, has been shocked to see these ships
hundreds of meters long, as high as condominiums, passing in such fragile
places as the Giudecca Canal or in front of San Marco,” said Minister of
Culture, Dario Franceschini. “This is why yesterday's decision by the Council
of Ministers to plan and build the final landing of ships outside the Lagoon is
very important.”
Last week, Italy’s ministers for the environment, culture,
tourism, and infrastructure agreed to a plan that called for temporarily
diverting cruise ships to the industrial port of Marghera located about 10
miles away from Venice on the mainland. The ministers called it a temporary
measure while they could work with the industry to come up with a long-term
solution.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi took up the cause and on
March 31, put a proposal before Italy’s Council of Ministers to formally adopt
the plan to divert ships and create an alternative docking facility. The decree
approved by the council formalizes the ban on large cruise ships, as well as
container and other large commercial ships, from entering the lagoon. They will
be required to divert to Marghera. The second portion of the decree calls for
public consultations and working with the industry and ministries to create a
permanent solution. Ships larger than 40,000 gross tons would dock at the new
terminal which would be outside the lagoon and not require a passage through
the famed canals.
Citing the increasing damage from floodwaters and air
pollution, UNESCO, which has designated Venice a World Heritage City, has long
been calling for the Italian authorities to take actions to protect the city
from the dangers of the large ships.
In a Tweet after the council vote, Minister Franceschini
called it “a just decision that has been awaited for years.” He announced the
agreement to establish a new landing facility saying that Italy was responding
to the appeals from UNESCO.
Always a popular tourist destination, in recent years Venice
has seen further growth with many of the estimated 25 million visitors to the
city each year coming from the cruise ships. In 2013, the government announced
a ban on ships over 96,000 gross tons, only to have it later stuck down by the
Italian courts. The government later tried to require ships to divert to the
industrial port but most large cruise ships continued to dock in Venice if
possible. The 2019 accident in which an MSC cruise ship lost control and struck
a river cruise ship and the dock renewed calls to move forward with the cruise
ship ban.
Venice was not among the ports to begin receiving cruise
ships when the industry restored service starting last summer. The government
hopes to take advantage of the current pause to explore the long-term solution
for the hotly contested docking rights for cruise ships.