VENICE, Italy—A cruise ship crashed into a Venice dock on Sunday, June 2, hitting a moored tourist boat and sending onlookers running for safety in what one witness said resembled a “scene from a disaster movie.”
The cruise ship, MSC Opera, rammed into the San Basilio terminal, and hit a smaller tourist boat—the River Countess—that was docked there, the local port authority told CNN.
Four people suffered “light injuries” in the accident, it said.
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The incident happened at around 8.30am local time on the Giudecca canal, one of the busiest in the Italian city which is hugely popular with tourists.
Video on Twitter showed the huge cruise ship heading for the dock, shoving the smaller boat out of the way, and causing onlookers on land to flee.
#Venezia #VIDEO la nave da crociera #Opera di @MSC_Crociere fuori controllo ha speronato stamattina il battello fluviale #Michelangelo e la banchina.
Qualcuno ci spiegherà perché le navi che salvano vite sono sotto sequestro, mentre queste #grandinavi sono libere di far danni. pic.twitter.com/mSyhCMvvZc
— Beppe Caccia (@beppecaccia) June 2, 2019
“The noise of siren and of clash is totally frightening, looking like a scene from a disaster movie,” wrote Twitter user Tancredi Palmeri, who posted a video of the dramatic collision.
The cruise ship operator, MSC Cruises, said in a statement that the vessel “experienced a technical issue” while heading towards the terminal for mooring.
“Investigations to understand the exact causes of the events are currently in progress,” it said. In the meantime, the ship has “received authorization to be moored at the Marittima terminal, as planned.”
From there, it will continue to carry out “passenger boarding and disembarking operations.”
The local port authority for Venice told CNN its priority on Sunday was managing the accident, but that from tomorrow it would be looking to “finally create a solution to the traffic of large ships in Venice.”
The country’s Environment Minister, Sergio Costa, said on Twitter that the incident is a “confirmation of what we have been saying for a long time: Cruise ships must not sail down the Giudecca (canal).
Quello che è successo nel porto di #Venezia è la conferma di quello che diciamo da tempo: le #GrandiNavi non devono passare dalla Giudecca. Per questo da mesi insieme ai ministri @DaniloToninelli e @BonisoliAlberto stiamo lavorando per spostarle e siamo vicini alla soluzione
— Sergio Costa (@SergioCosta_min) June 2, 2019
“This is why for months we have been working with the ministers… to move them (the vessels) and we are close to a solution.”
The safety of big ships in European cities has been highlighted by the crash last week of a cruise liner with a pleasure boat on the Danube in Budapest, killing 7 people and leaving 21 missing presumed dead.
Pino Musolino, chairman of the northern Adriatic Sea port authority, said four people had suffered minor injuries in the crash. Emergency workers said the cruise ship appeared to have lost control after a steel cable that tied it to a tugboat snapped.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
