Tag Archives: Italian Government

Costa Prepares Gradual Restart Plan

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Costa Smeralda

Following the authorization to cruise by the Italian Government, Costa Crociere prepares to gradually restart its operations in light of the new protocols that will be officialised soon, the company said.

Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia said: “We are extremely excited that we will be able to cruise again soon and we want to thank the Italian Government and all the authorities for their constant availability and support.

“The cruise industry and Costa specifically, as the only Italian cruise company, create significant value to the economy and to the destinations we visit. The gradual restart of our operations will give relief to the local economies in port communities and to the whole ecosystem of almost 5,000 suppliers and business partners, and over 7,500 travel agents, in Italy, who have been suffering from the pause of our activities.

“The resumption of our operations in this phase is also a great responsibility towards our guests, our crew members and the residents of the communities we visit. In the next days, we will be working closely with national and local authorities, ports and terminals, RINA and internally onboard our ships, for the full implementation of the protocols issued by the Italian Government so we can all together guarantee a smooth, well organized and safe restart of our cruises, both onboard and ashore. We look forward to announcing shortly the full program of our itineraries so that thousands of loyal Costa Guests can have the opportunity to sail again with us for the holiday they missed so much.”

Venice to Begin Rerouting Cruise Ships Away From Historic City Centre

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A cruise ship sailing the Giudecca Canal in Venice
PHOTO: A cruise ship sailing the Giudecca Canal in Venice. (photo via Mark Edward Smith/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Venice has taken a huge step toward banning large cruise ships from entering the crowded grand canal through its historic city centre just months after a cruise liner smashed into a riverboat and dock and a week after city officials asked other European cruise destinations to join in its effort to curb cruise ship visits.

The Italian government announced that it will begin to gradually reroute the ships away from the city centre starting next month.

By next year, at least one-third of the ships visiting Venice are expected to call at ports closer to the Italian mainland but still inside the lagoon, including the Fusina and Lombardia terminals.

Italy’s minister of transport Danilo Toninelli said the ultimate goal was “to avoid witnessing more invasions of the Giudecca by these floating palaces, with the scandals and risks that they bring,” via the Financial Times.

“Starting now, we will decrease the number of liners passing by Giudecca and San Marco, particularly the bigger ones,” he added during a transport committee hearing. “The aim is to reroute about one-third of the cruise ships already booked on Venice towards new berths by 2020. We’ve been talking about big ships for 15 years and nothing has been done. These floating palaces will start to go elsewhere.”

Officials plan to consult the public before determining a new location for cruise ships to dock in the long-term future.

“Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) cruise lines have been actively engaged in discussions for a considerable time about using the Vittoria Emanuele Canal as the preferred alternative solution,” said Andy Harmer, CLIA’s U.K. and Ireland director, in a statement. “We have been cooperative in simulations and studies that supported the Comitatone recommendation. CLIA urges all parties in Venice to reach a conclusion to start the preparation work to prepare the Vittoria Emanuele Canal so we can begin to reroute the larger ships.”

“The cruise industry has worked diligently with the Mayor of Venice, the Veneto Region, the Port Authority and many others to find viable solutions to allow larger cruise ships to access the Marittima berths without transiting the Giudecca Canal and we are in agreement with the solution developed by Comitatone in 2017 to utilize the Vittorio Emanuele Canal as the best and most prudent means to move larger cruise ships away from the Giudecca,” he added. “CLIA cruise line members welcome and will support the urgent implementation of this solution.”

Venice has been struggling with over-tourism for several years now with as many as 30 million visitors passing through each year.

“The growing size of vessels, their environmental impacts on the areas surrounding the ports and the ‘burden’ that the increasing number of tourists…are creating a situation of conflict,” Pino Musolino, chairman of the northern Adriatic Sea port authority, wrote in a recent letter to eight fellow port authorities.

Desperate officials have even called on UNESCO to add Venice to the World Heritage site blacklist of endangered destinations.

Cruise ships to be banned from Venice

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Summary – Celebrities including British stars Sir Michael Caine and Julie Christie had backed the campaign.

An international campaign to ban large cruise liners from Venice has been successful, with the Italian government confirming massive ships will be blocked from the city centre from 2015.

British celebrities such as Sir Michael Caine and Julie Christie had supported a petition lobbying for a change in the law, with cruise ships currently able to pass within sight of the iconic St Mark’s Square.

Despite the victory for the campaign, there is already opposition to the Italian government’s proposal to create an alternative route into Venice for cruise liners, reports the Telegraph.

Gianfranco Bettin, a councillor for the Greens Party, stated that councils will need to be involved before a decision can be made on the plans.

Transport minister Maurizio Lupi was among those to approve plans to block cruise liners from Venice, which is known as the Queen of the Adriatic and listed by Unesco as a World Heritage site.

He said: “It seems to me to be a balanced solution which takes account of our duty to remove the skyscrapers of the sea from the canals of Venice, while safeguarding a world heritage city that is the envy of the world and protecting the city’s economy which is so linked to cruise tourism.”