Cruise Industry Trends and Cruise Ships’ Navigational Practices in the Central and South Part of the Adriatic East Coast Affecting Navigational Safety and Sustainable Development

Abstract

The analysis of cruising trends in the Mediterranean regions shows that the Adriatic is the fastest growing cruise region in terms of the number of passenger movements and cruise ships’ port calls among all regions, particularly the central and south part of the east Adriatic coast. The aim of the paper is to analyze leading cruise destination trends in the central and south part of the Adriatic east coast, as well as to identify newly established cruise ships routes, define high-risk navigational and environmental areas and determine cruise traffic density in the vicinity of marine protected areas. The analyses of leading cruise destinations trends are based on four-year (from 2015 to 2019) cruise passenger movement and cruise calls data, whereas analyses of cruise traffic movement are based on one-year cruise ships traffic monitoring (from August 2014 to July 2015). The results of the cruise ship traffic analysis show that cruise ships frequently pass through areas of high navigational and environmental risks that are geographically restricted, navigationally challenging and environmentally sensitive. These routes have become standard navigational practice in newly discovered cruising regions. The obtained results offer a general overview of high-risk cruise ships’ navigational practices in coastal navigation that can be associated with any coastal region in the world.