With a sensational action with canoes and inflatable boats, climate activists demonstrated against cruise tourism in Rostock-Warnemünde on Saturday evening. The demonstrators delayed the departure of the cruise ship “Aida Diva” for two hours.
In order to draw attention to the environmentally harmful effects of the cruise, climate activists from the group “Smash Cruiseshit” had placed themselves in the port of Rostock-Warnemünde with rubber boats and canoes in front of the cruise ship “Aida Diva” around 6 p.m. to prevent it from leaving the port.
The police cleared the blockade with boats from the water, among other things. The “Aida” ship was only able to cast off and leave the port after a two-hour delay.
Posters on the ship unrolled from the water
As a police spokeswoman confirmed, around 20 people had previously been on the water and had unrolled posters on the cruise ship. On one they demanded: “Sea rescue in the Mediterranean instead of luxury liners in every sea.”
Activists unrolled posters on the cruise ship “Aida Diva” on Saturday evening.
Two activists also climbed onto lanterns at the cruise terminal on the quay, and some demonstrators also tried to get onto the 252-meter-long ship. According to their own statements, the police were deployed with 20 to 30 forces both on the water and on land. 15 activists were found to be taken to the federal police for identification because they did not want to identify themselves. “First of all, we have initiated an investigation into the violation of the Assembly Act,” said a police spokesman.
Criticism of the activists: cruises are harmful to the climate
A spokeswoman for “Smash Cruiseshit” spoke of a sometimes aggressive mood after the end of the campaign. The activists were attacked by passers-by, for example. But one is satisfied because the departure of the ship was delayed by two hours and attention was drawn to one’s own concern. During their blockade, the activists criticized that cruises are harmful to the climate. On the one hand, people are enjoying luxury vacations on board, while other people are suffering from the effects of the climate crisis.
The group “Smash Cruiseshit” calls for an immediate halt to all cruises. In a statement, however, the shipping company referred to technical innovations: “By 2050, we are aiming for climate-neutral ship operations.” In 2019, the group had already delayed the departure of a cruise ship by several hours with a similar action in Kiel. A similar campaign took place in Kiel last year.
Shipping company: Blockade has no further influence on the journey
A spokeswoman for the cruise line Aida Cruises said that the two-hour delay in the departure of the “Aida Diva” could be made up well, also because a day at sea was planned for Sunday. The blockade will not affect the further course of the journey.
The ship embarked on a five-day cruise towards Sweden on Saturday evening, the spokeswoman said. After the sea day on Sunday, it is scheduled to moor in Stockholm at 10 a.m. on Monday.
This topic in the program:
NDR Television | North Magazine | 06/17/2023 | 19:30 o’clock