Cruise Bruise Blog
May 23, 2009
May 23, 2009
After Pirate Attack On MSC Cruise Ship Italy Cancels MSC Ship To House G8
It was obvious from the start that the 35th G8 summit participants were not going to be housed in a cruise ship at the Sardinian island of La Maddalena in July 2009, though one media outlet after another reported it. I avoided the story, because it was clear it was never going to happen.
A cruise ship is a soft terrorist target and given the G8 have a big bullseye on them, putting them into a cruise ship was clearly going to be a security nightmare, not one American President Obama was about to get lead into. Protest groups and other activists are expected to make a showing at the summit as usual.
At the 2005 summit, eight police officers were injured and more than 32 people detained after protestors made an attempt to block the M9 road and railway lines.
More than 100 activists dressed in black, many hiding their faces with clothing, "streamed" from their temporary campsite in the early morning hours, where close to 5,000 protestors were staying. A five-mile (8 kilometers) long fence of steel surrounded the hotel, complimented by a no-fly zone above creating a fortress.
Initial reports were saying a MSC cruise ship would be used this year to house the G8 attendees. It was an MSC cruise ship, MSC Melody that less than a month ago on April 25th allowed pirates to begin to board her while her captain was drinking in the bar, leaving passengers to fight off the pirates coming up a ladder to board the ship. One passenger and one crew member was shot in the attempted hijacking.
The G8 site tried to spin the change in a politically correct manner as "a token of a consideration for the earthquake victims", instead of admitting it was a huge mistake to choose a cruise ship for the summit.
"In the wake of the decision to move the Summit initially scheduled for La Maddalena to L’Aquila, as a token of consideration and support for the communities hit by the earthquake on 6 April, the turtles remain in the Summit’s new symbol as a reminder of this G8’s “migrant” nature, accompanied by the wording: “G8 Summit 2009 - From La Maddalena to L’Aquila”.
The Guardia di Finanza Non-Commissioned Officers’ School is the likely venue for an G8. The School complex, already dubbed “Guardia di Finanza City” is located on the outskirts of L’Aquila, in the Coppito district, and since 6 April, after verifying its safety, has housed the Civil Protection Department’s Di.coma.c, or Direzione di Comando e Controllo of the Civil Protection System, which is coordinating emergency work in the wake of the earthquake.
Past Italian host cities were Venice in 1980 and 1987, Naples in 1994 and Genoa in 2001.
The G8 evolved from the Group of Seven when Russia was added in 1987 to France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
On the G8 agenda:
Climate change
Energy; Nuclear energy
Dialogue with emerging countries
Achievement of millennium development goals
Negotiations on climate change
Development of Africa -- 4 issues (alimentation, global health, water, education) or education, water, food and agriculture, peace support.
Intellectual property
Heilengendamm process
Outreach and expansion
May 23, 2009
Aussies Quarantine Suspected Swine Flu Cruise Ship
In one of the boldest moves in the modern era, the Dawn Princess was held in the port in quarantine at Darling Harbor in Sydney, Australia with about 2,000 passengers and 900 crew aboard when she returned from a voyage around 1200 hours with numerous passengers reporting flu symptoms.
Another 2,000 passengers waiting to embark on the next voyage at Wharf 8 were left at the dock waiting to board when Australian health officials boarded the ship upon its arrival and an announcement was made, asking any passengers suffering from flu-like symptoms to come forward and be swabbed.
Dawn Princess had returned from a 35-night cruise in the Pacific Ocean and had stopped in the Hawaiian islands for three days in early this month.
The first passengers were allowed off the ship just after 6pm but were told to stay in Sydney and avoid unnecessary contact with others. Passengers were expected to board the ship about 10pm but it was unclear what time it would sail out of Sydney.
Passengers aboard waiting six hours before they were permitted to disembark. Many of the thousands of passengers waiting to embark complained they had paid for a meal that night and would not be receiving it.
One passenger died on the cruise, another was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. It is unclear if flu symptoms played a role in either the death, or the transportation to the hospital.
The Dawn Princess had arrived late to begin with due to rough seas.
A Fortress: Guardia di Finanza L’Aquila, in the Coppito District
