Ischia found itself cut off from the mainland on Thursday due to a protest by island residents against the reduction in service by the Caremar ferry lines.
Some 100 Carmar employees and residents occupied the docks in the islands's main port preventing any ferry or hydrofoil from arriving or departing.
Among the protestors was the mayor of Ischia, Giuseppe Brandi, who was joined by his counterparts from Capri and Procida, the other islands in the Bay of Naples archipelago served by Caremar. Last month, a similar protest was staged on Capri which successfully blocked all maritime traffic to and from the island for most of the day.
Both on Capri and Ischia the protestors spoke out against what they defined as Caremar's private monopoly on ferry service to the islands and the inadequacy of its service in general. The majors of the three islands have repeatedly asked the region to revoke Caremar's operating license unless it reinstated recently cancelled services.
