- Tweeter
republish
The Port Authority of Venice has launched this Thursday, August 1 an appeal to other historic European ports to organize against the dangers represented by giant ships.
" The increase in the size of the boats, their environmental impact on the port areas and 'the burden' caused by the growing number of tourists create a situation of conflict, " wrote Pino Musolino to eight port authorities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona , Dubrovnik or Marseille.
The President of the Northern Adriatic Sea Ports Authority has called on them to " join forces " to force companies to design boats " compatible with our structures and the environment ".
In early June, the MSC Opera caused panic in Venice and made four minor injuries. Victim of an engine failure that had made it uncontrollable, the giant boat, capable of carrying nearly 2,680 passengers, had hit a dock and a tourist boat trying to dock.
A month later, the Serenissima had narrowly avoided a new accident when a giant cruiser 300 meters long had grazed a yacht leaving the lagoon of Venice in very bad weather and pulled by tugboats.
Degradation of the ecosystem, pollution with heavy fuel, weakening of the foundations of the city of the Doges whose level is slowly falling in the sea: the damage caused by these giants of the seas are numerous. Solutions are being studied to change their route. But in the meantime, they continue to land up to 3,000 passengers who rush for a few hours on St. Mark's Square and in the surrounding streets. To the chagrin of the Venetians, more and more people denounce mass tourism and the transformation of their city into an amusement park.