Venice says "No" to cruise ships
August 1st 2021 will be recorded as the day cruise itineraries were permanently altered to save a sinking, historical city for future generations. Due to rising water levels, docking in Venice is now out for most major cruise lines. Medium and large sized ships no longer have permission to enter the Venetian Lagoon.
This week, Italy’s Council of Ministers issued a decree to ban most cruise ships from the San Marco Basin and Giudecca Canal and declared the Venetian Lagoon a national monument, effective August 1, 2021. The Italian government’s action comes as the 44th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee soon will discuss—as part of its larger agenda—the heritage status of Venice.
The discussion however is on-going and local tourism-focused merchants aren’t happy about the decision but anyone who has experienced Venice when 2- 3 (or more) large ships have disembarked thousands of passengers, flooding the narrow alleyways, lanes and restaurants, will see it as a good thing to combat over-tourism.
Alternative docking arrangements for Venice port calls have been under discussion for years and include the city of Marghera, a Italian cargo port that lies 20 minutes away (by rail) from the outskirts of Venice. At the moment, Marghera can accommodate some ships, but there is a lot of work to be done, including deepening the channel to enable access for the larger ships. Really it’s not that different from Rome and the port of Civitavecchia.
Ships are even banned from passing through the San Marco Basin if they’re greater than 25,000 gross tons. So, that would prohibit entry by many ships from lines such as Azamara, Oceania, Hapag-Lloyd and Silversea. Ships are also banned if they have a hull length at waterline of more than 35 meters (114 feet), with the exception of sailing ships that are also motorized. The decree additionally bans any ships with a fuel emission sulfur content of 0.1 percent or greater.
The ban on sailing into the Venetian Lagoon eliminates a stunning sail-by of St. Mark’s Square – a bit like New York and the Statue of Liberty, Sydney and the Harbour Bridge – with this gone, many cruise lines won’t visit the area.
An alternative idea is for ships to anchor outside the lagoon and operate shore excursions to Venice using the ship’s tenders to reach the main tourism area of Venice. Passengers could also use ground transportation/train service from the mainland or other water taxi transport to reach the city. With some re-organisation, a visit to Venice can still be on a cruise agenda.