by Ana Figueroa
Last updated: 12:15 PM ET, Mon July 30, 2018
The effort to reduce single-use plastics is sweeping across the cruise industry. The latest announcement comes today from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (Norwegian). The global company operates 26 ships under the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands.
Norwegian will ban single-use plastic straws across the fleet, as well as its two island destinations. The changes, to be implemented by August, will eliminate some 50 million straws each year. The company is a member of Ocean Conservancy's Trash Free Seas Alliance, which is dedicated to reducing plastic waste in the ocean.
"Eliminating single-use plastic straws across our global fleet and island destinations builds on our global environmental program 'Sail & Sustain' and further reduces our environmental footprint. As a member of the Trash Free Seas Alliance, we are committed to doing our part to protect the world's oceans for future generations to enjoy," said Frank Del Rio, Norwegian's president and chief executive officer.
Janis Searles Jones, chief executive officer of Ocean Conservancy, praised the company's efforts.
"We commend Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings for this important step to reduce single-use plastics. Plastic straws are just a fraction of the plastic in the ocean, but they are always among the top ten items collected during Ocean Conservancy's annual International Coastal Cleanup and can be deadly to ocean wildlife, which is why we have long urged our supporters to skip the straw when they can," said Jones.
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