Italy’s ministerial environmental review commission has issued a favourable opinion on two cruise berths at Marghera and dredging in Venice’s Vittorio Emanuele III and Malamocco-Marghera channels.
The Marghera project comprises two berths with rear yards and a passenger terminal on the north bank of Canale Nord at Porto Marghera. Cruise ships up to 300 metres long will use the berths, and they will enter the lagoon through Malamocco.
Dredging the Vittorio Emanuele III channel is expected to restore access to Venice’s Marittima terminal for smaller cruise vessels, including luxury ships.
Work on Malamocco-Marghera will improve access to the commercial port and the proposed Marghera cruise berths.
The Marghera terminal and the smaller ship berths at Marittima are also planned to have shore power connections.
Conditions attached to the opinion require the reuse of dredged sediment for lagoon restoration. These also call for turbidity controls and monitoring of seabed conditions and wave motion.
Separate measures will address navigation effects and safety.
The commission’s opinion is a stage in the environmental review, with executive designs now to be prepared; it does not itself authorise construction.
The ministry’s case listings show the terminal and Malamocco-Marghera dredging awaiting concurrence, while a decision on the Vittorio Emanuele III channel is being prepared.
Davide Calderan, president of Venezia Port Community, said in a September 26 statement that the works, “will allow the Port of Venice to recover part of the cruise capacity lost after the 2021 change in arrangements.” He also called for the projects to proceed without delay.
Restrictions introduced in 2021 bar vessels over 25,000 GT or longer than 180 metres at the waterline from the San Marco basin and the nearby canals of San Marco and Giudecca. Ships with an air draught above 35 metres, or using fuel with sulphur content of 0.1 per cent or more while manoeuvring, are also covered.
Cruise ships above the tonnage threshold can instead approach Marghera through Malamocco.
A nautical accessibility study launched in 2021 examined port access and lagoon hydrodynamics along the Malamocco-Marghera channel using navigation models and field measurements.