Matson Takes Delivery of New Con-ro Matsonia
Matson has taken delivery of Matsonia, the second of two new Kanaloa Class combination container / roll-on, roll-off (con-ro) ships built for the U.S. carrier at General Dynamics NASSCO's San Diego shipyard. Weighing in at over 50,000 metric tons, Matsonia and Lurline are each 870 feet long, with 114 feet beam and a deep draft of 38 feet. The sister ships have an enclosed garage with room for approximately 500 vehicles, plus ample space for rolling stock and breakbulk cargo. Lurline…
Matson Christens First Kanaloa Class Vessel 'Lurline'
Matson, Inc. and christened the largest combination ConRo ship ever built in the U.S. -- Lurline -- in a ceremony at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, CA on Saturday, June 15. Lurline an iconic name in Matson's long history, dating to the construction of Captain William Matson's first ship of that name in 1887. Four more ships were given the name in subsequent years; this vessel will be the sixth.The new Lurline is the first of two new ships being built for Matson by NASSCO at a total cost of approximately $500 million for the pair…
A&B and Matson Chairman Passes Away at Age 83
“Old sailors never die, they just drop the anchor,” Robert J. “Bobby” Pfeiffer said over a decade ago as he was contemplating retirement. Pfeiffer, one of Hawaii’s most renowned sailors and captains of industry, dropped the anchor on Friday, September 26, 2003, at age 83, at his home in Orinda, Calif., after a lengthy illness. During his 12 1/2 years at the helm of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Pfeiffer became practically synonymous with business leadership in Hawaii. He charted a course of modernization and diversification, and led A&B through one of its strongest periods of growth and prosperity. At the same time he earned a reputation for leadership –– personal as well as corporate –– in support of charitable and other community causes.
Matson Celebrates 125th Anniversary
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.
