Venice to ban cruise ships after years of protests from locals, environmentalists

As the MSC Orchestra cruise liner departs Venice on June 5, 2021, tugboats lead it across the basin, past the Bell Tower and the Doge’s palace. Getty Images | Miguel Medina | AFP After years of protests from locals, cultural organizations, and environmentalists, Italy stopped large cruise ships from entering Venice on Tuesday. Dario Franceschini, Italy’s cultural minister, said the ban, which was approved by the Italian cabinet, will go into force on August 1 and will encompass the lagoon basin around St. Mark’s Square, Venice’s most famous monument. Ships will also be prohibited from using St. Mark’s Canal and the Giudecca Canal, which were traditionally utilized by ships to reach Venice’s port. Ships weighing more than 25,000 tons, measuring more than 590 feet in length, or possessing other features that would make them excessively polluting or overwhelming for Venice’s marine environment are prohibited. Cruise ships often weigh four times as much as the new limit and can exceed 200,000 tons. According to Franceschini, the government decided to act quickly “to avoid the tangible risk” that the United Nations’ cultural body, UNESCO, would add Venice to its list of “world heritage in peril.” NBC News has more. Why have protests erupted in Cuba? It goes beyond the embargo imposed by the United States and the pandemic. Track the wildfires in California and Oregon on this map. ‘Drowning us’: Argentines are suffering as the death toll from Covid approaches 100,000.” It is a decision that UNESCO, everyone who have visited Venice at least once in their lives, Italian and foreign travelers who were stunned to witness these ships going through some of the world’s most vulnerable and beautiful areas, are all waiting for “Franceschini stated to the press. Venice is one of the most well-known tourist sites in the world, with an estimated 25 million tourists every year. Many arrive aboard cruise ships, putting a strain on the city’s already overburdened tourism infrastructure and endangering the city’s fragile marine ecosystem. Residents and environmentalists have fought for decades to prevent cruise ships from entering Venice in order to protect the city’s ecosystems, delicate building foundations, and cultural legacy, but change has been gradual due to the cruise ship industry’s importance to the city’s economy. On June 5, 2021, people demonstrate on boats in Venice, Italy, against the passage of large ships. Getty Images | Giacomo Cosua | NurPhoto activist for the environment In a WhatsApp message to NBC News on Wednesday, Jane Da Mosto, executive director of the nonprofit group We Are Here Venice, expressed relief that the “horror of cruise ships in the city” was coming to an end. The Italian government said earlier this year that cruise ships will be removed from the Venice lagoon, but gave no time frame. As the first 92,000-ton cruise ship since the pandemic began sailed through Venice last month, it announced that it was organizing bids for a viable alternative outside the lagoon, amid both jubilation and outrage. However, given the approaching UNESCO assessment, the government now says it “wants to offer a substantial acceleration” to the move, according to Franceschini. The Italian government announced the prohibition by announcing plans to develop five piers in the mainland town of Marghera, a 10-minute boat trip from Venice, to accommodate cruise liners away from the lagoon. Marghera, on the other hand, currently lacks adequate cruise ship mooring. The new docks at Marghera might take years to develop, according to Giovanna Benvenuti, a spokesperson for the Venice cruise terminal, who told NBC News that authorities would have to dredge a canal that runs to the port first. With cruise liners out of the picture for the time being, Benvenuti predicts that hundreds of port personnel will lose their employment. On the 5th of June 2021, activists from the No Grandi Navi group protest on tiny boats in Venice, Italy as the MSC Orchestra cruise liner departs from the Giudecca Canal. Anadolu Agency | Getty Images | Piero Cruciatti According to the Venice Port Authority, the cruise ship industry accounts for 3% of the city’s gross domestic product and supports roughly 4,000 employment. The Italian government pledged compensation to individuals affected by the prohibition, including shipping companies, terminal operators, and service providers, but did not define how much or when it would be paid. “We applaud the government’s decision because we’ve been waiting and appealing for an alternate route for cruise liners for ten years,” Francesco Galietti, Italian director of the international cruise industry trade association CLIA, said. Marco Gorin, the chief of moorers at Venice Port, expressed sadness, disappointment, and anger on behalf of his employees. “For the previous ten years, they’ve been talking about an alternative route for cruise liners, and we’ve never been against it,” Gorin told NBC News. “However, we did not anticipate the government banning cruises without first finding a solution.” He is concerned about how the ban will effect thousands of people like him who rely on the cruise ship business for their livelihood. “The new dockings will take years to construct. So, what are we going to do in the meantime?” Gorin went on to say./nRead More