Venice, Italy, to stop cruiseships?

[kandajones]

According to a news item on the BBC, the Mayor of Venice, Italy wants to ban all cruise ships from the city ....

Venice's dilemma
A committee of MPs from the upper house of the Italian parliament charged with overseeing environmental problems travelled to Venice earlier this week, where they heard a heartfelt plea from Venice's Mayor, Giorgio Orsini, to ban all cruise ships from visiting the lagoon city in future because of the incalculable environmental damage which might be caused by a similar accident to that which befell the Concordia.

But according to Renata Codello, the superintendent or Culture Ministry official in charge of conserving the unique architecture and landscape of Venice, the danger of an environmental disaster is minimal. There are no rocks underwater near Saint Mark's Square, just mud, she points out.

However one cruise ship, the Mona Lisa, did run aground on a mudbank near Saint Mark's in 2004 and had to be towed off by tugs.

Hopefully some agreement can be reached, but in the wake of the Concordia accident, it may become less likely that we'll drift by the landmarks in future.

Alan.