At the begging of the month, Italian actress Sophia Loren had a dream come true when a cruise ship was renamed in her honor. Now, environmentalists are trying to get her to stop the cruise ship from entering the Venice lagoon and asking her to renounce her title as 'godmother' of the ship.
On May 12, Sophia Loren christened the MSC Divina, which was named in her honor. The ship weighs 139,500 tons and can carry 3,500 passengers and close to 1,000 crew members. It contains 1,739 staterooms, a casino, a disco, an adults-only infinity pool, a Formula 1 simulator, and a first-class suite dedicated to Loren. The suite has a red carpet and is decorated with pictures of the actress during various stages of her career.
During the ceremony in France, Loren said "One evening I was chatting to [MSC president] Gianluigi about wishes and desires and I mentioned my own dream of having a ship named after me."
On Saturday, the No Big Ships Venice Committee wrote an open letter to the Oscar-winning actress asking her to help them stop the ship from entering Venice. These environmentalists claim that big ships pollute the air and the ship's wakes cause vibrations and lapping waves that destroy the foundations of historic buildings in the city.
In the letter, protesters said, "Venice and its lagoon are both world heritage sites and risk an environmental disaster every day because of the passage of these monsters of the sea."
The protesters are disappointed that the Italian actress would want to associate herself with a ship that causes destruction of Venice. They asked that she detaches herself from the cruise liner.
In the letter, they said that as a legend in Italy and around the world, they cannot believe Loren would want to be associated with a ship that contributes to the destruction of Venice.
"We are asking you to give up your role as godmother of the ship. Venice and the world would see that as a divine gesture. Venice belongs to the world. Help us save it," they said.
Environmentalists have increased their efforts to have large cruise ships banned from the lagoon since the crash of the Costa Concordia in January. The crash put a spotlight on the Venice lagoon where big cruise ships often enter to drop off passengers conveniently close to the Grand Canal. The country's leading conservation group, Italia Nostra (Our Italy) also opposes ships entering the lagoon.
Loren has not yet commented on the issue.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
