Tag Archives: Unesco

Venice bans cruise ships from the historic centre

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Italian authorities have approved a ban on cruise ships entering the historic centre of Venice.

The country’s culture minister said on Wednesday, ‘that the decision came in response to UN cultural body Unesco’.

Large ships will now have to dock at the city’s industrial port until a permanent solution is found.

Critics argue the ships cause pollution and erode the foundations of the city, which suffers from regular flooding.

On Wednesday, Italian ministers agreed that large cruise and container ships would no longer be able to enter the city’s Giudecca canal, which leads to the historic St Mark’s Square.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini hailed the move, which he described as “a correct decision, awaited for years”.

The government will hold a “call for ideas” for an alternative cruise terminal in the city.

Cruise ships are currently unable to enter Venice due to coronavirus restrictions but their absence since has been credited with improving water quality in the lagoons.

Pressure to pass a ban on large vessels mounted in 2019 after a cruise ship crashed into a harbour in the city, injuring five people. However, no permanent solution was found.

Previous initiatives to stop cruise ship traffic have also failed. In 2013, the government banned ships weighing more than 96,000 tonnes from the Giudecca canal, but the legislation was later overturned.

Other plans to divert cruise ships from the centre of Venice were announced in 2017 but were never fully implemented.

Cunard Unveils UK Program for Summer 2021

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Cunard is offering UK guests the opportunity to spend this summer at sea, with a series of UK voyages on board Queen Elizabeth. Voyages will be round-trip from Southampton, between July and October 2021, and comprise of British Isles scenic cruising and special Sun Voyages, sailing to wherever the sun shines brightest.

10 British Isles Voyages and three Sun Voyages, lasting between three and twelve nights, are available. Guests will be able to experience the most luxurious summer at sea enjoying exquisite fine dining, the onboard spa and spectacular entertainment while having the opportunity to see the UK’s coastline from a unique vantage point.

British Isles Voyages include scenic sailings along Britain’s coastline including The Jurassic Coast, England’s only natural UNESCO world heritage site, Cornwall including Land’s End and Scotland including the Isle of Arran, Mull of Kintyre and Sound of Mull. Four voyages will make various port calls, including Liverpool, Greenock, Invergordon, Belfast, Newcastle and a maiden call for Cunard’s fleet to the Welsh port of Holyhead.

Four-night scenic British Isles Voyages are priced from £599 per person for a Balcony Stateroom, while a 10-night British Isles Voyage will start at £1,299 per person for a Balcony Stateroom. Seven-night Sun Voyages are priced from £899 per person for a Balcony Stateroom.

Cunard President Simon Palethorpe said: “Cunard’s Summer at Sea luxury UK voyages are a truly unique way for guests to have a much-needed break this summer. With international travel not yet fully opened up, we’re delighted to offer these voyages exclusively for British guests to experience a staycation unlike any other, as they relax in Cunard luxury knowing we will take care of everything.

“Guests can sail along some of the most stunning coastlines anywhere in the world, as Queen Elizabeth provides a unique vantage point, or sail on one of our Sun Voyages where the destination is unscripted and is guided by studying the weather forecast and heading to where the sun shines brightest.”

Given the advanced progress of the UK vaccination program, and strongly expressed preference on the part of our guests for this limited series of UK coastal cruises, these sailings on Queen Elizabeth will be for UK resident COVID-19 vaccinated guests only. All other voyages on sale currently do not require guests to be vaccinated.

All guests and crew will be required to follow enhanced health and wellbeing measures to protect everyone on board on these cruises. These have been developed with guidance from our global medical and public health experts and scientists and in close coordination with UK government agencies. These protocols will include enhanced sanitation measures, appropriate social distancing and masks in certain areas of the ship. The crew will also undergo a strict testing and quarantine regime as well as regular testing during their time onboard. 

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.