Venice considering cruise ship ban

VENICE, Italy, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Officials say they are considering measures to ban large ships from passing through parts of Venice after the capsizing of the Costa Concordia cruise liner.

"This is one of the hypotheses we're working on," Environmental Minister Corrado Clini said Friday. "In the meantime we should take precautionary measures to progressively reduce risk."

The Venice Port Authority opposes measures to curb cruise traffic in the area because the cruise industry employs thousands in the region, ANSA reports. Port authority officials also claim the area is impervious to the sort of disaster that took place near Giglio on Jan. 3 when the Costa Concordia ran ashore, killing 32, the report said.

There was an incident with a German cruise liner that ran aground in Venice in May 2004, La Nuova Venezia reported.