Matson Navigation Company reached a major milestone in the U.S. maritime industry in celebrating 125 years of Pacific shipping. The company was launched on April 10, 1882 when Captain William Matson sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina from San Francisco Bay to Hilo, Hawaii, carrying 300 tons of food, plantation supplies and general merchandise. That voyage launched a company that has been involved in such diversified interests as oil exploration, hotels and tourism, military service during two world wars and even briefly, the airline business. Throughout its history, Matson has served Hawaii continuously and today remains the state's leading ocean carrier, serving all of the major ports of the Islands.