Venice is Sinking

Over recent months Venice announced a new policy to prohibit the transit of cruise ships to the city via the Giudecca Canal to ease congestion and address the issues of pollution. The ban is not to stop cruises altogether but to  force traffic further away from the landmarks along the shoreline. City officials say that most ships will now transit the Contorta Sant’Angelo Canal.

Additionally, the city is clamping down on the size of ships that can visit Venice, as well as the total number of vessels that call on it on a daily basis. From January 2014 Venice was planning  to reduce the visitations of larger ships (those that are 40,000 tons or heavier) also effectively limiting the number of ships to 5 a day, restrictions are also being planned for vessels heavier than 96,000 tons

The debate whether to ban the Mega ships in Venice has been rumbling for over 12 months, Luigi Brugnaro won the election in Venice this weekend which spells good news for the cruising industry as the election was to make the final decision

He has said in the past that he understood and supported the significance that the cruise holds for the city. He also opposed plans to build an offshore platform for cruise ships to dock off, so that they would moor far outside of Venice.

Venice is a major attraction and significant port of call for many cruise itineraries and it will remain to be seen if any significant changes will be made following the election  

It will be a tough decision whichever way it falls with Venice’s future in mind whether it will be the economic and touristic effect if the ships are banned or the environmental effect if they are continued to be allowed to cruise, what do you think the decision should be?