Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has announced it will eliminate single-use plastic straws across its fleet of 26 ships.

The company, which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, will also remove straws from its two island destinations, Great Stirrup Cay and Harvest Caye.

Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, said: “Eliminating single-use plastic straws across our global fleet and island destinations builds on our global environmental programme ‘Sail & Sustain’ and further reduces our environmental footprint.”

The company anticipates that it will eliminate over 50 million plastic straws each year across its fleet with the changes.

The move has been welcomed by Ocean Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group. Its chief executive officer, Janis Searles Jones, said: “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.”

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is also part of the Trash Free Seas Alliance, which brings together leaders from industry, conservation and academia to reduce ocean rubbish and plastic.