Italy bans cruise ships from Venice

Rome: The Italian government has issued a decree banning cruise ships from the Venice lagoon, with effect from 1 August, after coming under pressure to act from the United Nations cultural organisation UNESCO.

The ban, announced by culture minister Dario Franceschini last night, will see ships weighing more than 25,000 tons banned from the Giudecca Canal that leads past St Mark’s Square.

The move, which appears to be definitive this time, follows years of debate between the tourism industry and local residents opposed to giant cruise liners which they say threaten the city’s fragile ecosystem.

In March the government approved measures to ban the cruise ships from the city’s historic centre, sanctioning €2.2 million to construct mooring points outside the lagoon, with large passenger ships to be diverted to the industrial port at Marghera, about 10 km away on the mainland.

However the plan was long-term, rather than immediate, and last month Venetians woke up to their first visit from a giant cruise ship since the covid-19 pandemic began, sparking protests that made international headlines.

Police boats intervened to separate rival demonstrations between those in favour and those against the presence of the 92,400-ton, 16-deck MSC Orchestra and its 650 passengers.

This prompted UNESCO to intervene, saying “a long-term solution is needed urgently” and threatening to place Venice on its endangered list unless Italy issues a permanent ban on cruise ships docking in the canal city.

In the meantime the port at Maghera is not yet equipped to welcome passenger ships.

This means that cruise companies will have to steer clear of Venice for now, while the 25,000-ton limit for the Giudecca Canal means it will be open only to small passenger ferries and goods vessels, Reuters reports.

The government has appointed a special commissioner to fast-track works to repurpose Maghera, after issuing a call for bids for the construction of a terminal equipped to take ships weighing more than 40,000 tonnes was published on 29 June.

The latest twist in the long-running saga has been welcomed by anti-cruise ship activists but slammed by those working in the industry. The government said that those affected from the move would be compensated.