Stop big ships in the heart of Venice? Yes, but not now
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There are two pieces of news, one good and one bad. First the good: after the Senate’s okay, the green light has also come from the House for the decree-law, wanted by the Draghi government, that prohibits large cruise ships (over 40,000 tons) and container ships from passing through the heart of Venice. (Image source: Ansa)
No more monsters a passing through St. Mark’s Basin and the Giudecca Canal, no more pollution from large ships, no more risk of accidents and damage to the architectural heritage. The ships will have to moor temporarily in Marghera, pending the construction of an offshore port, in the open sea, for the mooring of the units (from which passengers will then be able to reach the Serenissima with a transport service): in the decree, in fact, there is already a call for ideas competition on the subject.
ALL VERY NICE, BUT …
So far, so good. But here comes the second news, the bad news. The stop to large ships in the Lagoon will not come tomorrow. In fact, in the next few days the big ships themselves will arrive.. And, as Repubblica writes, “after the cruise blockade caused by the pandemic, the first ship of the season will arrive in Venice on June 5, entering as usual through the Lido inlet and passing through St. Mark’s Basin and the Giudecca Canal. It’s the MSC Orchestra.”
Decree laws do not take effect immediately, but there are stages of implementation of the rule. Let’s walk through them: by the end of May the Port Authority, as the decree stipulates, must announce the international ideas competition mentioned above. Projects have already been submitted in the past with an EIA (environmental impact assessment) already obtained, but have stalled after wavering by the municipality and the Port. Identifying the right project and implementing it will take years.
IN SUMMER STILL LARGE SHIPS IN THE LAGOON
For the summer, with the market desperately seeking recovery after the pandemic that has mowed down the maritime sector, passages inside Venice will be limited, but they will be there. About three ships a week, on the usual route: entry from the Lido inlet, passage through St. Mark’s Basin and the Giudecca Canal, arrival at the Maritime Station.
THE MARGHERA SOLUTION. TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT?
The transitional solution we mentioned at the beginning, docking in Porto Marghera, could be viable-perhaps-from 2022: large ships could enter via the mouth of the Malamocco port (located further north) and the Canale dei Petroli (used by commercial ships), thus avoiding transit from San Marco.
In fact, the Venice Port Authority also held a competition (in which four companies participated, now being awarded) to build a cruise terminal in Porto Marghera, a solution already discussed in 2017 by the “Comitatone per Venezia” led by then Infrastructure Minister Del Rio. The City would much prefer the Marghera solution as permanent rather than a docking outside the lagoon.
THE “SAGA” OF THE GREAT SHIPS OF VENICE
Just think that it is since 2012, with the Clini-Passera decree following the Giglio Island accident, that the passage of large cruise ships through the San Marco basin should be banned. The conditional is a must, because the ban is not valid until alternative solutions would have been found. After nearly 10 years of real concrete solutions not even a shadow. It took the July 2019 incident to speed up the timing of the confrontation phase. We will see.
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