Pino Musolino, Chairman and CEO of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority asked with a letter to Presidents and CEOs of all the cruise companies calling the port of Venice to fundraise in support of Venice and its lagoon which were devastated by the exceptional high tide on Tuesday, November 12.
Mr Musolino writes that
It would be a great and positive message from you and from the whole cruise industry to raise a fund to sustain the city and its people. It would represent a tangible sign of your understanding and of your closeness to the city, a sign that could build rapport between the Cruise industry and the community of Venice and Venetians”.
In fact, it is further added that the port of Venice hires more than 19.000 workers, 4.500 of which are employed in the cruise sector. Mr. Musolino commented that “we want to support our people, telling them that they can rely on us, and that all together we will overcome this tragedy.”
The initiative aims to help support the Venetians; “we want them to know and remember that the port and its workers are with them, we are all part of the same family and we share the same pain. As already in the past, this time too Venice and its people will demonstrate their strength; we will get back stronger than before, managing to find the right balance to safeguard our territory and its economy vis-a-vis the new challenges determined by the clearly observable climate change,” Mr Musolino states.
We have a long history behind our shoulders, of which we are aware, that we have to combine with XXI century technologies to guarantee to Venice a long lasting life, not as an open-air museum but as a site of economic development, innovation and high quality employment,
he remarks.
In August, The President of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, Pino Musolino, sent a letter to key European ports inviting them to meet in Venice to discuss the economic and environmental impact of the cruise industry and to draw up guidelines for a new sustainable approach to maritime tourism.
The meeting would combine ideas from key ports players to establish guidelines for the European cruise industry of the future, while conveying to shipyards the need to build ships that are compatible with the European infrastructure and the environment, finally creating ‘European class cruises’, Mr. Musolino further explained.
Moreover, in early June, the cruise ship ‘Costa Deliziosa’ hardly avoided collision with the dock while transiting a canal in Venice during inclement weather. The incident comes only a month after a similar incident involving a cruise ship in Venice, surging concerns about the safety of large cruise ships in Venice’s canals.
Shortly after this incident, the historic preservation association Italia Nostra stated that large ships should no longer travel along that channel, citing potential dangers such as erosion of the Lagoon, increasing tourist pressure, high-impact development projects, restoration and renovation of the monumental heritage.
