A Close Call in Venice

This afternoon, a freak squal blew the transiting Costa Deliziosa off course and out of the main channel while leaving Venice.

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One of the increasingly frequent freak storms hit #Venice this afternoon. So violent that a departing #cruiseship nearly hit the bankside at Giardini. FIVE METRES!!! Quoting the eyewitness #delinquents #assassins #costadeliziosa #systemchangenotclimatechange #thefuturestartsnow #stopthemadness

A post shared by We are here Venice (@weareherevenice) on Jul 7, 2019 at 10:46am PDT

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El COSTA DELIZIOSA zarpó hoy del puerto de Venecia bajo un fuerte clima que casi causa que chocara con un yate que navegaba en dirección opuesta. La capitanía del puerto junto a los remolcadores actuaron de manera excelente y así evitaron otro incidente. Esto causa que continúen las protestas cada vez más fuertes para prohibir los barcos grandes en tan importante puerto. Gracias a Díos, en esta ocasión no ocurrió ningún incidente. #crucerospuertorico 🇵🇷 #cruceristasdeborinquen #Venecia #CostaDeliziosa 🎥@robfer

A post shared by Cruceros Puerto Rico (@cruceros_pr) on Jul 7, 2019 at 12:30pm PDT

There was no dammage to any vessel involved and all vessels proceeded on course normally. This is exactly why ships transit with tugs even with the advanced maneuverability of a modern day cruise ship.

So while this is pretty much a ‘non-event,’ a growing local movement in Venice have been passionately campaigning against having cruise ships so close to the city center.

Costa Released this statement:

Costa statament about what happened in Venice: Today a sudden weather event affected Costa Deliziosa with violent gusts causing a deviation during her Giudecca passage under guidance of the Port Commander and 3 tugboats twhich promptly assisted the maneuver.