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Hawaii-based ocean cargo transportation firm Matson Inc. announced plans today to add routes in the South Pacific by acquiring assets of a struggling New Zealand company.
Matson said it signed an agreement to buy four ships, roughly 1,500 pieces of container equipment and other assets of Reef Shipping for an undisclosed price.
The purchase is expected to close on Monday, upon which Matson would continue providing service to islands served by Reef.
Reef provides service from New Zealand and Fiji to Nauru, the Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Wallis and Futuna territories, Niue, Tonga, Vanuatu, Tarawa and Majuro.
The routes will be new for Matson, which mainly serves Hawaii from West Coast ports and China but also serves Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Reef, a subsidiary of Reef Group Ltd., was placed into receivership last month and has undergone struggles to maintain service.
