Early risers in Venice were surprised to see a cruise ship heading down the Giudecca canal for the first time since the start of the pandemic, despite repeated government pledges to reroute such huge vessels due to safety and environmental concerns.

The 92,409-ton MSC Orchestra passed through the basin in front of St Mark’s Canal at around 6am on Thursday under tugboat and port authority escort, ahead of the first post-pandemic cruise ship departure from Venice, scheduled for Saturday.

Its arrival comes two years and a day after the MSC Opera struck a dock and a tourist river boat in the same canal, an event that underlined safety concerns among anti-cruise ship campaigners.

Protests are ramping up against the renewal of cruise traffic, just two and a half months after Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini, vowed a stop to the passage of big ships through the heart of the city.

They include an open letter by the Venice Heritage non-profit organisation, signed by celebrities including musician Sir Mick Jagger, actress Tilda Swinton, filmmaker Wes Anderson and director Francis Ford Coppola.

“Venice is suffering, and we, citizens of the world, cannot remain deaf to her cries,″ said the open letter – addressed to Italian officials including Premier Mario Draghi, members of his cabinet, the Venice mayor and the Veneto governor.

“This fragile entity, (a) world heritage site, cannot survive without our help,” the letter added.

The signatories laid out 10 priorities for the city, including a stop to the passage of huge ships through Venice and a better management of mass tourism.

The Italian government in March passed a law aimed at definitively blocking cruise ship traffic through Venice.

Italy’s Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility Ministry said that a bidding process would open “any day now” for “ideas aimed at identifying better and structural solutions to realise a new docking area for large ships outside of the Venice lagoon”.

The new terminal would be used both for cruise and container ships, the ministry said.

“Meanwhile, in 2022, as a temporary solution a certain number of ships will be able to dock in Marghera, easing transit on Venice,” the ministry said.