Anto talked about ships, and I have to put here in writing some considerations about "new " ship designs.
Why are modern ships so CLOSE, BIG and ugly ? Here are some "back then" and "now" examples.
Let's start with Lake Como....a Battello from last century looked like this:
And a Battello from 1970 looked like this:
Lots of open-air spaces,right ?
Ok, here is a brand new, very very expensive battello, from 2008 (lake como) or 2009 (lake garda):
No open spaces, passengers have to stay "inside".
Do the persons designing the ships know or love lakes ?
I think they hate them, or they never ever sailed on them. I think they just copied some "modern" ideas for ship design. They can do that, but the administrators of the "navigazione" ? Why did they give them the ok, and our money ?
Let's move on to "cruise ships".
Achille Lauro, 1964:
There is some open-air space, or is there ? Note this ships sailed @22 Knots (about 44 km/h), not much slower than "Mega Express 5" 26 knots..
Let's look at a "modern" cruise liner design:
This "thing" is brand-new, sails as fast as the Achille Lauro and it is....horrible.
Oh, and our "Ferry", our "traghetti" !
Let's see a beauty from the past, 1972, in its original shape:
Same ship after repainting...:
...some works to make it "longer" and "higher"...:
and the thing as it is now, still beautiful and full of open air spaces, even after the "reworks" to make her look worse..:
(note that the % of open space is much less, as the ship is now longer and higher, and can accomodate more passengers)
But the real problem lies in the modern-age ferries, as in the one we just traveled to Corse.. :
Is this elegant ? Please have a look at the little open-air space, and how fews windows there are!
Did the persons designing such ships love the sea? Or did they hate it, or never sailed on it, and just copied some "modern" idea for ship design ?
but then, why did the administrators of Corsica Ferries (this is an example the same holds true for many ferry operators, excluding ANEK) give them the money ?
