Cruise lines seek Venice solution

Matteo Secchi, spokesperson for local pressure group venessia.com,
acknowledges the role cruising plays in the local economy but says common
sense must prevail. “We are not against cruise ships but we want to preserve
Venice and need to find a satisfactory solution for everyone,” he said. “All
we ask is that cruise lines do not enter the San Marco basin.”

CLIA insists there is “no scientific evidence to prove that cruise ships
displace water in Venice because of the slow speeds at which the ships
travel,” but agrees the volume of cruise traffic using the current
navigational route – there were 661 cruise calls at the port last year – is
unsustainable.

“We have recognised the need to move away from current navigational
routes for some time but there were no alternatives in place,” said
CLIA secretary general for Europe, Robert Ashdown.

Ashdown said discussions with the cruise industry are now coming to a head. “We
attended a meeting in July at which five viable proposals were developed. Each
of the various options is being worked up by their proponents for submission
and evaluation by the relevant authorities in preparation for a decision
being taken later in the year.

“It is difficult to provide more concrete assessments until we see the final
submissions but a report is expected mid-October, when the environment
minister will announce his decision. By the end of the year we expect to see
a long-term sustainable plan for cruise ships to Venice put in place.”

In Venice a host of environmental and operational issues comes into play.
Among the alternatives is a route in the Contorta channel behind the
Giudecca which would “appear to require the least amount of dredging” and
allow continued use of the Venice passenger terminal’s existing facilities.
A docking facility at Lido has been mooted and a third option would be for
ships to enter Venice via the south lagoon and dock at Marghera, an
industrial zone that houses a commercial port. Transfer time for cruise
passengers to Piazzale Roma would be 10-15 minutes.

“It is not just an issue of transfer time,” says Ashdown. The IMO
(International Maritime Organisation) wants passenger and commercial ports
to be kept separate and any blockage of the causeway between the port and
Venice would have huge implications for cruise line passengers.”

Ashdown said it is impossible to say when a new navigational route will become
operational but in a city whose newest bridge, the Calatrava, opened years
behind schedule and was dogged by controversy one can only hope that plans
come to fruition sooner rather than later and that this summer’s death in
Venice will be the last.