Call for cruise ship ban after liner rams river boat in Venice
● Five people hurt as out-of-control vessel hits dock and blocks canal
Italy’s transport minister has called for cruise ships to be banned from using the Giudecca canal in Venice after an out-of-control liner rammed a river tourist boat in the port.
Videos of the collision show the MSC Op era cruise ship, apparently unable to halt its momentum, blaring its horn as it ploughs into the much smaller River Countess and the dock as people on the wharf run away.
Transport min is te rD a nilo Ton in ellis aid :“Today’ s accident in the port of Venice proves that cruise ships shouldn’t be allowed to pass down theGiu dec ca any more.
“After many years of inertia, we are finally close to a solution to protect both the lagoon and tourism.”
Five people were hurt. Four older female tourists were injured as they tried to flee when the liner rammed the tourist boat.
The collision happened at about 8.30am yesterday on the Giudecca, a major thoroughfare that leads to St Mark’ s Square.
The cruise ship’ s owner, MSC Cruises, said the liner was about to dock at a passenger terminal when it had a mechanical problem.
Two tugboats guiding the cruise ship into the dock tried to halt the liner but they could not prevent it from ramming the river boat.
“The two tow boats tried to stop the giant and then a tow cable broke, cut by the collision with the river boat,” Davide Calderan, president of a towboat association in Venice, told the Italian news agency Ansa.
Mr Calderan said the cruise ship’s engine was locked when the captain called for help.
Venice’s port authority said it was working to resolve the accident and free up the blocked canal.
“But from tomorrow we need to move, all together and as quickly as possible, to resolve the cruise ship traffic problem,” said Pino Musolino of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority.
Cruise ships passing through the Giudecca before disgorging thousands of people in the tourist city has been a point of contention for years.
In June 2017, an activist group called No Grandi Navi (no large ships) held an unofficial referendum in which Venetians voted in favour of banning the ships from the city’s lagoon.
A plan to divert large cruise ships away from St Mark’ s basin and the Giudecca canal and towards the V it to rio Emanuele canal was drawn up by local authorities four years ago.
Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, has said cruise ships must now change their routes.
“We have four people bruised and one wounded ... it could have been much worse,” he tweeted.
“It is no longer conceivable that big ships cross the Giudecca canal. We ask for the immediate opening of the Vittorio Emanuele.” The large ships are also feared to be causing environmental damage, with claims that waves caused by the ships have eroded the under water supports of buildings and polluted the waters.
Environment minister Sergio Costa claimed the government was close to finding a solution.
“What happened in the port of Venice is confirmation of what we have been saying for some time,” he said.
It is unclear whether the solution would mean cruise ships of all sizes being banned from the canal.
MSC Cruises said it was cooperating with the authorities to find out what happened.
The company said the MSC Opera was waiting to be allowed to dock at a terminal where large ships moor at the waterfront. The liner was built in 2004 and can carr y more than 2,675 passengers.
Venice is a leading tourist destination, especially dur - ing the summer, attracting an estimated 30 million visitors a year.