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[ 05-12-2004: Message edited by: RobHolland ]
A 655-foot cruise ship ran aground near St Mark?s Square in Venice amid thick fog today, leading to concerns about safety in the waterway.
None of the 1,000 passengers and crew on the Mona Lisa were hurt, city officials said.
However, Venice?s mayor took the opportunity to complain about such large ships travelling so close to the historic centre.
?My concerns about the danger of large ships passing the St Mark?s Basin ? are unfortunately confirmed,? Mayor Paolo Costa said in a statement.
?Today, disastrous and unimaginable consequences were fortunately avoided. But it?s obvious that steps need to be taken to eliminate the danger of a ship ending up in St Mark?s Square.?
Costa suggested that such ships should not be allowed to cross St Mark?s Basin, which is near the famed square.
Instead, they should be anchored farther out, such as near the Lido island off the coast of the city centre.
The ANSA news agency said most of the passengers were Dutch, and the AGI news agency said the ship was travelling with the Bahamas flag."from Irelandon-line.
It doesn't really tell us what happened. If the Mayor of Venice has his way, Venice will lose it's entire cruise related industry imo. Who want's to tender from off Lido? What about all the cruises that begin/end in Venice. It's one of *the* best sights in the world sailing into/from Venice. One mishap in how many thousands of ships calling per year?The flooding of Venice is more of a priority I think.
Pam
This will intensify this debate.
A new oil tanker platform is being built in the sea before the laguna entrance, so this big ships won't have to come any more in the laguna...
Docking in the Lido, and going by vaporetto to St-Marks is also quite nice...or by Gondola (remember the movie...)
Venice is too beautiful too be shunned by cruise companies.
It doesn't really tell us what happened. If the Mayor of Venice has his way, Venice will lose it's entire cruise related industry imo. Who want's to tender from off Lido? What about all the cruises that begin/end in Venice. It's one of *the* best sights in the world sailing into/from Venice. One mishap in how many thousands of ships calling per year?
Up until 3-4 years ago the Mona Lisa used Venice as her turn around port sometimes. When she sailed for P&O under the name mv Victoria, if im not mistaken. There were never any problems then, But that was before she came a German 'Beer Cellar'.
I guess we have to put the error down to bad communications between the German captain Thomas Röder and the Venetian pilot.
The mayor of Venice Paolo Costa will surely take this further. Hopefully cruise ships will not have to stop at the Lido or Malamocco entrances to the Venetian Lagoon.
Time will tell.
Cheers
The article that goes with it can be found at:MSNBC - Cruise ship runs aground near Venice's St. Mark's Square
In the photo above you can see the Doge's Palace, whether this is the point where she ran aground is not known. It does look rather close, but then again I could be wrong. Need a second image from another angle to work out exactly the point she ran aground.
[ 05-13-2004: Message edited by: Onno ]
[she is much deeper in the water than even today's largest cruise vessels. If I remember correctly she draws about 30 feet, maybe more.
Yes she is much deeper in water than most ships. When most ships would sail around storm, she would often go through. She was the best ship i have been on, when it came to rough waters.
quote:Originally posted by Onno:Maybe ships should not be given permission to sail the canals when it is misty.
This is't the last what we will hear about it.
J
the name of the mayor of Venice is Costa (!)
The image and article in German can be found at the Basler Zeitung, Switzerland.
The only problem with this image is that it was taken with a telephoto lens, maybe around 200mm or so. This pulls in the background making the ship look closer than it actually is.
Here is another image:
From this image we can see Mona Lisa was going straight ahead instead of veering to port. Maybe one of the many small vessels on the Grand Canal made the captain do an evasive manoeuvre.
And this one from Comune di Venezia (Venezia Council):
At the stern you can see two tow lines. She does seem to be about a 100 or so metres from shore. A bit close for comfort for some of the smaller vessels using the canal. There could have been a real tragedy.
If I find other I’ll post them.
Last Year in Spitzbergen, this Year in Venice.
The Draft of the Ship is 8,56 Meters, this is about half an Meter more than the Millenium, for Example.
It must be an Navigation Mistake...
...as it was last Year in Spitzbergen.
Adventure Holidays: grounding is included in the Cruise Fare...
quote:Originally posted by Johan:the name of the mayor of Venice is Costa (!)
Yes, but he hasn't nothing to do with the Costa family, who created Costa Cruises.
In 2001 also Costa Tropicale grounded off Venice... and some months later also at Myconos.Does it depend from the age of the ship ? Both Mona Lisa and Costa Tropicale are quite old.
This is 1 1/2 Meters less than the 38 Year old Mona Lisa. She has 8,56.
[ 05-15-2004: Message edited by: Keitaro ]
quote:Originally posted by Keitaro:[QB]Is it just me or did she seem to be in better condition with P&O ?
no not you, she was in better condition with P&O
In the Past, they have the TRITON in their Programme and before that the OLYMPIC COUNTESS.
Of Course, they are Ships in the Bottom of the Offers of the Cruise Market, both of an relatively lousy Quality.
So, the Mona Lisa is now an better Ship for THEM, but compared with the world wide Cruise Market, it is again 2nd or 3rd Quality.
The Prices asked are on the other Hand 1st Quality,the newest Offer i got on Wednesday this Week was an Cruise from 11th November to 9th December from Progreso/Mexico back to Europe.
The Price including the Flight to Mexico is Euro 3.999 in an lousy Staplebed-Inside-Cabin of 10 Square Meters.
But: HURRY!!!!!!!
From June 1st on, the Price is higher, the Minimum is Euro 4.499.
A lot of German Cruisegoers need to be ripped off, they are unhappy, if they get an good Price for an Excellent Ship.
They believe, the Quality can not be good, if the Price is good.
On the other Hand, if you rip them off and ask for an Horror Price, they will not complain...
...it MUST BE AN GREAT CRUISE!!!
The Price payed shows, it is great!
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