Cabinet OKs decree banning cruise ships from Venice

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 13 - The Italian cabinet on Tuesday approved a decree banning cruise ships from Venice, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said, calling it a "historic day".
    The decree also safeguards the workers involved, paying them CIG lay-off benefits.
    Franceschini said the ships would be moved to berths at the industrial port of Marghera starting in August.
    "It is not going too far to define this day as historic because after years of waiting from the first of August the big ships will no longer pass in front of St Mark's or the Guidecca Canal," said the minister.
    UNESCO said on June 21 that Venice's survival would be even more in peril if the lagoon city didn't issue a permanent ban on cruise ships docking there.
    The UN heritage body said it would examine a proposal to put Venice on its endangered list at its plenary session on July 16 to 31. (ANSA).