Over the summer, Honolulu-based carrier Matson, Inc. christened Matsonia, one of a pair of Kanaloa Class vessels, at General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.
The 870-foot-long, 114-foot-wide vessel is a combination container/roll-on, roll-off ship and among the biggest constructed in the country, according to the company. With a top speed of 23 knots, the 50,000-metric-ton ship will also be one of the fastest in Matson’s fleet.
It will be able to accommodate 500 vehicles and have enough room for rolling stock and breakbulk cargo. It will also be environmentally-forward and features a “fuel-efficient hull design, environmentally safe double hull fuel tanks, fresh water ballast systems and the first Tier 3 dual fuel engines to be deployed in containerships regularly serving West Coast ports,” according to Matson.
“The construction of Matsonia represents over a year’s work for about 2,000 professionals here at NASSCO…engineers, tradesmen and lots of support people and countless others who produced the materials used to build this ship that are sourced here in the U.S,” Matson Chairman and CEO Matt Cox said after the shipyard ceremony. “Over its expected lifespan, this ship will generate approximately 4.5 million man-hours of work opportunity for the U.S. mariners who will operate it and decades of steady work for all of the dockworkers and terminal personnel that move the cargo on and off our ships.”
The vessel is expected to be delivered to Matson in the fourth quarter of this year.
For more, visit https://www.matson.com/kanaloa-class.html.
