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Photo: Arved Gintenreiter |
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Photo: Arved Gintenreiter |
An article entitled Venice Rebels Against Cruise Ship Invasions written by Colleen Barry for the Associated Press on February 5, 2012, gives a good summary of the situation:
If the cruise ships were modern buildings, which they strongly resemble, they would certainly not be allowed in Venice, a UNESCO heritage site that mandates the view of protected places cannot be permanently altered. But because they move, there is no official sanction against them.
...Even before the Concordia disaster, Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni and the chief port official signed an agreement for new studies on alternative routes — but passenger terminal officials believe that passing by St. Mark's is a key attraction.
Francesco Bandarin, UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture — and a Venetian himself — said longer-term solutions are needed.
"The city is a very fragile city. This is a city that comes to us from the Middle Ages," Bandarin said. "It is not designed for having that kind of traffic. It is designed to have ships, and we will always have ships around Venice, but not these kind of ships."
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Photo: Arved Gintenreiter |
There were three cruise ships that were due to leave Venice on Sunday: the 3,000-passenger Costa Fascinosa, 1,712-passenger MSC Opera and 2,536-passenger MSC Musica, which were delayed by the flotilla of small boats. From USA Today:
The protest is just the latest from groups arguing that the growth of large cruise ships visiting Venice in recent years has had a negative impact on the destination.
Cruise ships sailing into and out of Venice pass within yards of the city's famed Piazza San Marco, a route critics say is risky due to the possibility of environmental damage or an accident impacting historical treasures. The criticism has grown louder since the Costa Concordia accident off the coast of Italy earlier this year.
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Berlusconi boards MCS Divine |
Speaking to reporters in Venice where he was preparing to board a cruise ship, the 75-year-old media magnate said his decision would depend on "the conditions that emerge, and what the electoral law will be."
One of the protestors' slogans was: STOP THE RAPE. Nearly every day up to nine monstrous cruise ships ram themselves through the fragile Giudecca Canal, forcing the narrow passage to accommodate their intimidating presence. The enormous ships gang-bang Venice, leaving behind a pornographic wake. Every ship that passes through the Giudecca Canal rips through the souls of the Venetians. Venetians are connected to the water, and to the lagoon, which is sacred and part of the culture. The locals witness the abuse of their city, and are trying to save her. They are behaving like any one of us would behave if we were forced to witness the repeated abuse of someone we love.
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Photo: Arved Gintenreiter |
Increasing numbers of ships are mooring in the port, at the end of the Grand Canal. "The two or three big cruise operators which control international business have massive clout," says Francesco Bandarin, Unesco assistant director general for culture.
The head of the local council, Giorgio Orsoni, worries about "the damage to the city's foundations from ships passing through the Giudeccia canal, only 10 metres deep. The water they displace acts as a pump for the seabed, shaking even the San Marco basilica".
"We are victims of the state," Orsoni adds. "The San Marco basin is state property … The big cruise ships deal with the port authorities who report to central government. [The ships] pay €40,000 ($49,000) each time they moor, with 3,500 calls a year, but Venice gets nothing out of it. The 2 million passengers who disembark spend very little, maybe just buying a drink."
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Photo: Arved Gintenreiter |
To fully assess the impact cruise ships have on mobility, WHERE (emphasis mine) the passengers are going after they disembarck (sic) needs to be determined. Many of the ships are turnaround so the passengers are often not going into the city of Venice but rather to the airport or the train station.
If that is so, then why not put the dock for the cruise ships someplace where it doesn't create so much damage? Then provide quick, easy transportation for those individuals who are getting off the boat and going to other destinations.
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La pescheria vecchia by Ettore Tito, 1893 |
It is a miracle that the city of Venice still exists in the year 2012. The architects who designed its glorious structures were geniuses, but even they could not imagine what impact a barrage of cruise ships 500, 1000 years in the future would have and plan accordingly. Venice's delicate infrastructure should be preserved, not destroyed. From a January 20, 2012 Daily Beast article entitled Italy's Cruise Ship Disaster has Highlighted the Threat the Ships Pose to Venice by Manfred Manera:
It’s not just the risk of collisions that makes the passage of the mega-ships through Venice dangerous. These ships use a polluting sort of bunkerfuel, which is harmful to the lungs of the city’s inhabitants. The fuel’s sulphuric content also contributes to the corrosion of the stones of Venice’s monuments. The passage of each of these ships through Venice produces exhaust equivalent to the fumes of 14,000 cars or 2,000 trucks. The San Marco basin is on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Would UNESCO allow this kind of traffic through the Valley of the Kings in Egypt or through the middle of Pompeii? I asked this question of Engelbert Ruoss, head of the Venice UNESCO branch. “Certainly not,” he said. “But as strange as it may sound the criteria are enforced in a much stricter way with the new sites on the World Heritage List, in developing nations, rather than with the old ones of the developed world, like in Italy or Spain.”
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Church of Redentore, 1592-Giudecca Canal |
Roberto Perocchio, the managing director of Venice Terminal Passegeri, said, "We need the city to understand that we can’t take the risk of investing precious funds if the city is not committed to cruising." I think the city would be more understanding if the cruise ships took their very valid concerns seriously. The Venetians have better things to do than fight with the cruise ships.Venice is so unique that people will always find a way to get here. Why not work with the Venetians instead of antagonizing them? Why not make the cruise ships a lucrative, thriving business that is welcomed instead of despised? Why not respect the lagoon and share the wealth? Why not practice sustainable tourism rather than squeezing the life out of the town?
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Photo: Arved Gintenreiter |
Here is an amateur YouTube clip of what Venice looks like from the cruise ship point of view:
And here is what a passing cruise ship looks like from a pedestrian point of view:
Ciao from Venezia
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
There was a festive atmosphere when I arrived at the demonstration against the cruise ships here in Venice at the Punta della Dogana on Sunday, September 16, 2012 a bit before 3PM.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy that the government takes all the money from docking ships and doesn't put it back into the community?!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate big cruise ships like those in the photos damage the city and the Lagoon by creating huge waves.
ReplyDeleteThe cruise ship looks like a sky scraper floating by. Jarring.
ReplyDeleteNice working on this blog. please do update some thing about Yacht Rental in Dubai
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