No more big ships please

The decision has finally been made that from the end of November large cruise ships over 96,000.00 will no longer be allowed to pass close to the lagoon city in Venice.

I think the right decision has been made. I’ve never sailed in or out of Venice and would have loved to take this route, so for those you that have count yourselves lucky.

Obviously with 650 cruise ships passing through the City annually even though they feel the ships block views for tourists and in some areas block out the sun, they still want the passing trade from cruise passengers, but just not at the environmental cost to the City. So alternative routes are currently in discussion.

The giant vessel produced as much pollution in an hour as 15,000 cars. In addition, the fumes contained 15 times as much sulphur as road vehicle emissions. The acid nature of the pollution is thought to be potentially speeding up the erosion of the city’s medieval buildings, which are already sinking into the lagoon. Environmentalists have long warned that the lagoon surrounding Venice, itself a Unesco heritage site, is also at great risk.

The agreement that has been reached will also see a reduction in the number of cruise liners weighing over 40,000 tonnes that enter Giudecca Canal.

So if you want to sail past St Marks Square on a large ship, get in quick, you have 2 months to do so………………….