Cruise Ship Penalized for Sailing Into Protected Waters
While nobody is perfect, the captain of Silversea Cruises’ Silver Ray has just made a rather costly mistake.
On May 3, 2025, while the newest addition to the fleet was operating an 11-night sailing from Barcelona, Spain, to Rome, Italy, the small ship sailed into the protected waters surrounding the famous Faraglioni of Capri.
The 801-foot long vessel came within 500 meters (or 1,640 feet) of the iconic rocks, which puts the marine ecosystem, the landmark, and the ship itself in danger.
“Last Saturday, the Silver Ray, a luxury 244-meter cruise ship, sailed through the waters, passing at close range from the coast of Marina Piccola and, above all, from the iconic Faraglioni,” reads a translated statement on the instagram of GreenMe, an Italian news outlet.
“A “bow” that was perhaps suggestive for the tourists on board, but potentially dangerous for one of the most fragile marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean (where a rare monk seal was recently spotted),” continues the statement.
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Smartphone video captured the 728-guest ship sailing within the off-limits waters, and was quickly sent to the Italian Coast Guard by an environmental association, called Legambiente.
This led to an investigation, in which the coast guard used Automatic Identification System transmissions and a monitoring platform to check the luxury ship’s path – and ultimately determined that she came too close to the Faraglioni.
According to Italian news outlet “GreenMe”, the cruise line was fined €1,032 (or $1,158.24 USD) for the transgression. The captain also received a formal, written warning from the Campanian Maritime authority.
While this fine might not seem like a lot to a luxury cruise line that brings in millions of dollars in revenue every year, it does send a clear message about respecting Italy’s protected waters.
Why It Matters
Maritime officials aren’t just establishing protected regions for fun. These rules are put in place for the safety of the passengers aboard these ships and to protect the marine ecosystems and wildlife.
Capri’s Faraglioni rocks could easily damage or sink a ship in the right conditions – as they are quite large at an average height of 328 feet and have no shortage of sharp edges.
Even though nothing went wrong when Silver Ray sailed by and there have been no documented shipwrecks in these rocks, they aren’t far from where the famous Costa Concordia capsized and sank near the Italian island of Giglio in 2012.
Activists have already been comparing Silver Ray’s actions to the “salute maneuver” made by former Captain Francesco Schettino onboard the ill-fated ship.
It was that act that caused Costa Concordia to collide with the rocks, and ultimately created one of the worst modern cruise ship tragedies – in which 32 people lost their lives.
While nothing happened this time, this tragedy can help contextualize why sailing too close to the Faraglioni of Capri was a big (and unnecessary) risk to take.
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However, the risk of harm isn’t just to the cruise ship and the passengers onboard, but also to the iconic landmark and the wildlife that live there.
In light of this event, Legambiente’s Capri chapter has begun rallying the troops to designate the waters surrounding the island of Capri as a Marine protected area.
Of notable importance, the water around Capri is home to several species of coral that are considered threatened or endangered.
A variety of fish, small mammals, and the blue lizard (a subspecies of the Italian wall lizard) all make this area their home. Additionally, sightings of the rare and highly endangered Mediterranean monk seal have also been reported nearby.