Groups: Venice lagoon still at risk after cruise ship decree - Bay News 9

ROME (AP) — Activists opposed to cruise ships in Venice are seeking a meeting with the Italian government to argue that its latest proposal to re-route big ships away from St. Mark’s Square doesn’t address pressing environmental concerns about the fragile Venetian lagoon.

“But the interim ‘temporary’ plan to bring large cruise ships to Marghera will not protect the lagoon,” she said in an email.

The fragile Italian canal city depends tourism, even though the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a blow to that industry in the last year.

But opponents of cruise ship tourism say the ships are out-of-scale for Venice, cause pollution, threaten the lagoon’s ecosystem and are a danger.

To back up their claims, they cite the 2019 crash of a cruise ship on Venice's main Giudecca Canal that injured five people.

Published On: Sat, 03 Apr 2021 15:59:00 GMT