Matson express route will now service Naha

Matson Inc. plans to begin service to the Port of Naha in Okinawa as part of the company’s expedited China-Long Beach Express operations.

Transit times from the U.S. West Coast to Okinawa will be up to four days faster than existing services in the market. The new weekly service will make its first call at Naha on Feb. 18. The new service will begin with departures from Seattle on Jan. 28; Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 31; and Long Beach, Calif., on Feb. 1.

Naha will replace the current direct call at Xiamen, China, in that express service. The ports of call with the China-Long Beach Express service now will be Long Beach, Honolulu, Guam, Naha, the Chinese port of Ningbo and Shanghai before returning to Long Beach. The last direct call at Xiamen will be Feb. 5.

Hawaii’s largest ocean cargo carrier said Tuesday that westbound transit times to Naha will be 20 days from Seattle, 18 days from Oakland, 17 days from Long Beach and 10 days from Honolulu. Eastbound transits from Naha will be 14 days to Long Beach, 17 days to Oakland and 33 days to Seattle.

Matson operates its China-Long Beach Express service with five U.S.-flagged vessels carrying containerized and bulk cargo.

John Lauer, senior vice president, ocean services, for Matson, said, “Adding Naha allows us to provide the fastest service to an important locale for the U.S. government without diminishing our eastbound (China-Long Beach Express) capacity out of China. The westbound transit time from Long Beach to Naha will save shippers up to four days on existing services in the market.”

Bookings for westbound cargo to Naha will be handled by Matson’s customer service center. Matson has appointed Pacific Logistics Inc. to handle bookings for eastbound cargo from Naha.