An Italian Job - Michael Grey February 2021
An Italian job By Michael Grey Whatever your particular mode of transport might be, you are well advised not to have any sort of accident within the jurisdiction of the state of Italy. An advanced European country, you might think, with a well-developed system of justice? That may be the impression everyone who loves that country likes to think, but just don’t make any sort of a mistake in Italian waters, if you don’t want to end up serving a custodial sentence. This view has been recently reinforced by the treatment accorded to five members of the crew of the cruise ship MSC Opera, which, it might be recalled, had a spectacular “hard landing” in 2019, trying to get alongside in the port of Venice. Terrifying videos were instantly available from several angles, showing people running for their lives on the quay as the ship, apparently out of control, bounced off the wharf and slammed into a harbour cruise craft. Five people were injured in the general mayhem. The initial explanat...
