Environmentalists have warned against the repetition of a Costa Concordia-like disaster at the marvelous locale of Portofino, fearing the implications of the latest regulations that permit cruises to come much closer to the shores. Portofino is a beautiful Italian fishing village located at a narrow coastal strip of land known as the Italian Riviera, also termed as the Ligurian Riviera.
One of the environmental groups of Italy, Legambiente has said that the new regulations proposed by Coast Guard would enable cruise ships to float as near as 0.3 nautical miles to the Ligurian coast. The permissible limit of cruise ships coming close to the shore is 0.7 nautical miles.
Legambiente, which has made efforts to restrict the movement of cruise ships in Venice has targeted Portofino claiming that the cruise ships sailing in this region are likely to harm the delicate ecosystem of the lagoon.
The regional president of Legambiente, Santo Grammatico has said that cruise ships would threaten the aquatic life surrounding the village. He added that the environmentalists were also in fear of luxury cruise ships running aground, just like the Costa Concordia did in the year 2012. He also said that the Costa Concordia incident should not be forgotten.
Portofino appeals to several Hollywood celebrities like Clark Gable and Rock Hudson as well as Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Spacey, Kate Blanchett and Rod Stewart who is a British singer.
The regional Coast Guard of Portofino has said that the observation of environmentalists attempts to seek a balance between environmental protection and the safety of the passengers of cruise ships
