The protest came after the Italian government pledged to block the entrance to the canal city lagoon, and parliament approved in May an executive order led by Mario Draghi, which included, among other things, a public tender to encourage projects to build berths for ships weighing more than 40,000 tons intended for passenger transport.
The intention was to move these ships further away from Venice, as they usually sail in front of Piazza San Marco in order to navigate the Giudecca Canal to the naval station, the port where they dock, on the western side of the island.
The cruise industry has been paralyzed by the pandemic and the associated travel restrictions, but activity has resumed today as the MSC Orchestra departed Venice on a trip across the Mediterranean.
This ship is 60 meters high (17 meters more than the Basilica of San Marco), 293 meters long, 32 meters wide and weighs 92,409 tons. It crossed the waters of the Giudecca Canal on Thursday to reach the Marine Station, but it won’t be the only ship to do so in June, as at least two others, Costa Cruises, are also planning to do the same. a trip to the Venetian train station.
Members of No Grandi Navi protested today to prevent these ships from passing through the Venice Lagoon, while Armando Danella, a spokesman for the Venice Environmental Association, wrote a letter to local authorities and the Department of Ecological Transition, Cultural Heritage and Infrastructure Ministries. find a solution.
Vessels weighing over 96,000 tonnes dock at the port of Marghera, a few kilometers west of the seaport, but lighter vessels are allowed to cross the lagoon that surrounds the city.
For several years now, Venetian associations have been calling on the Italian government to build an alternative port and have proposed several options, including the San Niccolo area, for tourists traveling to Venice by ferry.
Back in 2012, UNESCO appealed to the Italian government to look for alternatives to maritime shipping in the Venetian Lagoon. Indeed, the termination of the passage of large ships was one of the conditions that were subsequently put forward to avoid exclusion from the list of cities recognized as World Heritage Sites.
