Matson, Horizon raise rates

HONOLULU — Horizon Lines, one of the islands’ major ocean shippers, is raising shipping costs to offset increased expenses for security, labor, workers’ compensation insurance and increased capital spending for equipment replacement, company officials said.

Service rates at Matson Navigation Co. — which commands 70 percent of the shipping market — also are being raised.

Starting Jan. 3, the average rate of state’s two largest shippers will increase by an average of 3.5 percent.

In other sea shipping news, the series of state hearings on allowing Honolulu-based Hawaii Superferry to operate a high-tech ferry between the main islands of Hawai‘i is coming to Lihu‘e. A meeting is set for the Wilcox Elementary School Cafeteria at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16.

Proponents of the inter-island ferry say shipping of produce and other goods between islands would be greatly reduced if approved. Traveling to other islands would also cost significantly less, the company, says, compared to current inter-island airline fares.

Horizon Lines is tacking on the increase in one of three ways depending on the item being shipped. The charges are calculated based on either weight, volume or unit.

Horizon’s terminal handling charges will go to $265 from $240 for westbound containers and to $135 from $110 for eastbound containers.

The increase in shipping charges is in addition to three fuel surcharge hikes by Matson and Horizon earlier this year.

Matson, the San Francisco-based shipping subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., of Honolulu said shipping rates will go up by $100 per container, and by $25 per vehicle.

Matson also is increasing its terminal handling charge by $40 per Hawai‘i-bound container to $265 and by $20 per mainland-bound container to $135.

Both shippers are boosting their handling fee per car to $40 from $35.