Italy approved a ban on cruise ships entering the historic centre of Venice. Large ships will now have to dock at the city’s industrial port.
The country’s culture minister informed about this decision on April 1, saying that it came in response to a request from UN cultural body Unesco.
In fact, many are those that argue the ships cause pollution and harm the foundations of the city, which suffers from regular flooding.
For thi reason, Italian ministers agreed that large cruise and container ships would no longer enter the city’s Giudecca canal.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini welcomed this development, calling it “a correct decision, awaited for years”.
The government will hold a “call for ideas” for an alternative cruise terminal in the city.
Currently, cruise ships cannot enter Venice due to COVID-19, but their absence since has been credited with improving water quality in the lagoons.
According to BBC, pressure to ban large vessels increased in 2019 after a cruise ship hit a harbour in the city, injuring five people.
Previous initiatives to stop cruise ship traffic have also failed, when in 2013, the government banned ships weighing over 96,000 tonnes from the Giudecca canal, but the legislation was later overturned.
