A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists departed the Greek island of Syros on Tuesday without its passengers disembarking, following a protest by more than 150 demonstrators at the port.

The protesters waved Palestinian flags and called for an end to the conflict in Gaza.

They displayed banners reading “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” – a reference to the conditions faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The vessel, identified as the Crown Iris and operated by Israeli company Mano Cruise, had about 1,700 passengers on board.

It is now en route to Cyprus.

Mano Maritime said in a statement released to the Guardian: “The ship arrived at Syros, encountered a demonstration by pro-Palestinian supporters, and passengers were stuck on board without permission to disembark.”

Local media reported that the demonstrators chanted slogans on the dock, though there were no reports of any violence.

Greece’s coast guard confirmed the ship set sail around 3pm, earlier than its original schedule.

“The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination,” the company said in a press release.

“All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar contacted his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, over the incident, the Greek foreign ministry confirmed.

It did not release any details of their discussion.

A statement from the protesters took aim at Greece’s close relationship with Israel, according to the Guardian.

“As residents of Syros but more so as human beings, we are taking action that we hope will contribute to stopping this destruction from the genocidal war that is taking place in our neighbourhood,” it said.

Greece has become an increasingly popular destination for Israeli tourists in recent years.

• The town of Juneau is looking at introducing a seasonal sales tax structure.
• This would mean the towns current 5 per cent sales tax would bump up to 7.5 per cent in the busier summer months.
• The town will vote on the proposal at its next assembly.

The small Alaskan town of Juneau appears perpetually locked in a battle of searching for ways to better manage the huge flow of cruise ship traffic that it sees each summer. 

After a campaign financed by the cruise industry was successful in preventing Juneau’s ‘ship free Saturdays’ concept, the town is testing other strategies to limit cruise ship traffic.

It previously increased port fees and now appears to have a new strategy aimed at managing the cruise ship masses.

The Juneau Assembly will vote on a new seasonal sales tax system next year that would increase sales tax during the summer months, when most cruise ships arrive.

Juneau currently has a 5 per cent local sales tax, but this proposal would raise that to 7.5 per cent from April to September, and lower it to 3.5 per cent during the winter months, from October through to March.

Other Alaskan towns such as Skagway and Ketchikan already have tax structures like these.

Juneau assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said: “In what is an increasingly seasonal economy, it makes sense to capture maximum yield when you have all these folks in town.”

A local sales tax is simply a consumption fee for goods and services. For example, if this proposal went ahead, whether a cruise passenger is booking a local tour, buying lunch in a restaurant or buying a museum ticket, this would come with a 7.5 per cent sales tax. Compared to the current rate, this would equate to $2.50 more of taxes per each $100 spent.

The City and Borough of Juneau has previously clarified to Cruise Passenger, that the town is not anti-cruise. They just simply need to be able to control and manage cruise ship traffic in order to continue giving a satisfactory experience to visitors.

“I think it’s important to note that the limits we have put in place are to allow us to make infrastructure and other improvements to be able to handle the volume we are seeing today. Cruise tourism is vital to our local economy, and we are proud of the number of local businesses and year-round jobs that the industry supports.

“However, we want to make sure we are managing our visitation in a way that maintains our visitor economy while ensuring that the boom doesn’t turn into a bust.”

Cruise ship traffic in Alaska has seen a huge boost over recent years, and the small Alaskan towns that see thousands of cruise passengers dock nearly every day for half the year, have been struggling to keep up.The cruise industry is suing the small town of Skagway, for attempting to place a tax on cruise ship shore excursions.