The crew of Cunard’s flagship vessel Queen Mary 2 ushered in the holidays last month by joining a coastal clean-up at Salisbury Beach on the west coast of Dominica.

The call to Dominica was part of a roundtrip Caribbean Celebration voyage from New York.

The two-hour effort was jointly organised by the ship’s environmental compliance officer, Robert Price, together with representatives from the Discover Dominica Authority and Salisbury Council.

An extensive clean-up operation

The Cunard team, along with 12 local volunteers, swept 20,000 square metres of beach front, collecting hundreds of discarded items, totalling an impressive 25kg of waste in 30 bags of rubbish.

The group removed an array of glass, plastics, fishing nets, ropes, metal bars, and bottle tops.

Ship captain Aseem Hashmi said: “Our wonderful team of volunteers are very proud to have participated in Queen Mary 2’s first Dominica beach clean-up and through their passion for sustainability and environmental protection, helped make a big difference to the local marine environment. This initiative is a reflection of our shared responsibility to preserve the beauty and health of these vital ecosystems for future generations. By working together with local communities, we aim to inspire meaningful change and contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable future.”

The initiative complements a series of UK beach cleans, in support of the Marine Conservation Society, that Cunard’s shoreside teams have conducted throughout 2024.