What was once an industrial wasteland of an island has been turned into a tropical paradise with diligent work by the MSC Foundation, the philanthropic nonprofit arm of MSC Cruises.
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve is a 95-acre private island in the Bahamas for cruise guests that features glistening white sand beaches and shimmering turquoise blue waters. But it’s also a hard-won environmental victory for MSC, which transformed the space into a welcoming, pristine ecosystem to be enjoyed by humans, marine life and avian species.
“Essentially, Ocean Cay is a man-made island. Since the 1970s, it has been exploited aggressively for its sand,” said Dr. Owen O’Shea, the marine research manager at Ocean Cay. “The first thing MSC had to do when they took over the lease at this island was to remove all of the derelict mining equipment that had been left by the previous company.”
