Cruise ship passengers were left horrified with at least five injured, as their vessel plunged into a dock in Venice. Tourists were seen fleeing the scene at the Giudecca canal in Italy.
A cruise ship smashed into a dock in Venice, Italy, today, in a horrifying incident which saw five injured. Tourists were seen fleeing the scene in a frightening video, which shows the full impact of the crash. The vessel, the MSC Opera, drove into the busy Giudecca Canal, at around 8.30am. With the water route one of the most crucial in the area, it was understandably busy at the start of the day.
It appears the vessel lost control, first charging into a small river boat before hotting the dock.
Panicked passengers on board reflected the terror of tourists on dry land, who ran to safety.
Two towboats had attempted to stop the vessel from its disastrous course but to no avail.
Davide Calderan, president of a towboat association in Venice, told the Italian news agency Ansa: “The two towboats tried to stop the giant and then a tow cable broke, cut by the collision with the river boat.”
Meanwhile the ship’s owner, MSC Cruises, told how the vessel was about to dock at a passenger terminal when it encountered the issues.
The liner holds 2,679 passengers and weighs 65,591 tons.
It appears the unfortunate incident occurred just when the vessel was returning from a shirt cruise.
MSC Opera’s website stated it started its journey from Venice on 26 May, before sailing to Kotor, Montenegro, and Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu.
The incident has prompted renewed calls for cruise ships to be banned from Venice – a controversial point which has been flagged numerous times.
Horrified users on Twitter commented alongside videos of the smash, uploaded to the social media site.
One raged: “Now this is terrifying. Venice. Cruise ship. The two don’t go together.”
Another posted: “I took a video of cruise ships dwarfing the city last year – it is criminal that they are allowed into the lagoon.
“Hopefully this will prompt stricter regulations and finally ban them for good.”
Another added: “These ships should be banned from the lagoon.
“Actually it’s time permits were issued to Venice. Horribly overcrowded.”
Yet change could be on the horizon,
The independent reports in 2021, cruise ships over 55,000 tonnes will no longer be able to pass through St Mark’s Basin and dock in the city, in what would be a major change.
Instead they will sail through the Venice lagoon, at a distance away from the city.
The ruling was made by Venice’s Comitatone in an attempt to solve the angst over cruise ships in the beautiful destination.
