Construction Begins on New Matson Container Vessel

Matson’s ‘Aloha Class’ containership Daniel K. Inouye. Photo: Matson, Inc.

Construction has officially started on the first of a trio of new Matson, Inc. containerships that are expected to operate its Hawaii and China-Long Beach Express (CLX) services, the Honolulu-based transportation services company said Sept. 30.

Officials marked the occasion at the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania, where the Jones Act-compliant vessels are being built under a $1 billion investment by Matson.

Anticipated for delivery in 2026 and 2027, the 854-foot-long vessels are expected to mirror the company’s two current “Aloha Class” ships, Daniel K. Inouye and Kamina Hila, also constructed at Philly Shipyard, which went into service in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

When completed, the 3,600 TEU-vessels would feature dual fuel engines that could run on traditional marine fuels or liquefied natural gas. It would also include green ship technology such as fuel-efficient hull design, double hull fuel tanks that are environmentally safe and freshwater ballast systems, the company said.

“Our existing Aloha Class ships are among the fastest, most efficient vessels in the Matson fleet,” Matson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Matt Cox said. “And like their sister ships, these three new vessels will help Matson achieve its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal while also providing additional capacity and speed benefitting our Hawaii service as well as the CLX.”

As part of its corporate goals, Matson aims to curb Scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) fleet emissions by 40% by 2030 and achieve net-zero Scope 1 GHG emissions by 2050.

Scope 1 emissions are direct GHG emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization.

By Karen Robes Meeks