Government issues a 'no-salute' decree for cruise liners
Ban encourages sustainable tourism
01 March, 18:40
(ANSA) - Rome, March 1 - A goverment decree on Thursday
banned salutes of coastal towns by cruise ships that navigate
too close to Italian shores.
The decree is a response to the Costa Concordia accident
off the Tuscan coast on January 13, said Environment Minister
Corrado Clini at a conference on Giglio Island Thursday.The Italian cruise liner was performing a salute when it slammed into a rock formation in the waters of the Tuscan island, killing as many as 32 people, some of whose bodies have yet to be recovered. Clini told journalists that it is "important to establish rules for navigation near sensitive areas".
"Sustainable tourism" is a key goal of the government-issued ban, said Clini, as is a guaranteed buffer zone protecting delicate natural reserves. Areas secured with the decree include the Venice lagoon, Tuscan archipelago, Ligurian coast, as well as neighboring Monte Carlo and Corsica.
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