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A bigger and faster Matsonia cargo ship is due to arrive in Honolulu Harbor this morning on its maiden commercial voyage for Hawaii’s largest ocean cargo transportation firm, Matson Inc.
Matson forecast Monday that the $250 million ship would arrive from Long Beach, Calif., at about 7 a.m. today with containers and automobiles.
The new Matsonia was the last of four new ships delivered to Matson since 2018 as part of a nearly $1 billion fleet renewal program.
The Matsonia cost about $250 million and recycles the name of another Matsonia, which Matson retired at the end of last year.
The older Matsonia was built in 1973, ran on steam power and could carry about 1,985 20-foot containers along with 450 automobiles.
The new ship can carry about 3,500 20-foot containers and has an enclosed garage for about 500 vehicles. It is also 110 feet longer, at 870 feet, than the old Matsonia, and has a top speed of 23 knots compared with 21 knots for its predecessor.
Matson said its four latest fleet additions are the largest ships of their kind ever built in the U.S.
The new Matsonia was built by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego and is of the same design as the Lurline, which Matson began operating early last year.
Matson’s two other newest ships are the Daniel K.
Inouye and the Kaimana Hila, which are 850 feet long and can carry the equivalent of 3,600 20-foot containers. These two ships were built in Philadelphia by Philly Shipyard Inc. and entered service in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
“Putting four new ships into service in a three-year span is a significant accomplishment that culminates eight years of planning, project management and coordination for teams across many departments at Matson,” Matt Cox, company chairman and CEO, said in a statement last month.
Matson, which delivers two-thirds of the state’s containerized cargo, was able to trim the size of its fleet serving Hawaii to nine ships from 10 last year because of the increased capacity of the new ships, which the company said makes for more efficient service. The new ships also are more fuel-efficient than vessels they replaced, and are expected to have a useful life of about 40 years.
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