VENICE - The imminent departure of the first cruise ship from Venice following the loosening of Covid-19 restrictions, despite laws banning their presence in Venice's protected waters, has caused much anger within the city's environmental groups.

  The Venice Environmental Association has sent a legal warning to naval traffic authorities asking that they ensure that cruise ships respect the laws regarding transit through Venice.

  MSC Orchestra, the first ship to depart following months of cancelled cruises, is 60 metres tall, higher than the Basilica of San Marco and only 3 metres less than the bell tower on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. It arrived in Venice on June 3 and will depart on June 5.

  All 293 metres and 92,400 tonnes of it will travel down the Giudecca Canal in front of the Doge’s Palace, dwarfing the numerous historic buildings on either side.

  Armando Danella, spokesperson for the Venice Environmental Association, sent the formal legal complaint to Emanuela Carpani of the Superintendence of Archaeology and Fine Arts, Pietro Pellizzari, commander of the Port Authority, and to the president of the Port Authority of Venice, Lino Di Blasio.

  The letter asked for the implementation of whatever actions within their jurisdiction to “impede the entrance of large cruise ships into the protected waters of the lagoon.”

  In 2012, Corrado Passera, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, and Corrado Clini, Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea, issued a decree that no ships with a weight of over 40,000 tonnes could pass through Giudecca Canal or San Marco Canal. However, nothing was ever done after this and ships continue to pass through.

  The complaint also cited a decree passed on April 1 by the Draghi government that stipulates that these huge ships must find places of berth outside the protected waters of the Lagoon. There are an abundance of laws backing their complaint, but which for whatever reason have never been applied.

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