Matson adds new service from China to Long Beach

Matson Navigation Company announced Thursday that it is expanding its service between China and the Port of Long Beach by adding a second string of vessels.

The new vessels will provide service from the ports of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai to Long Beach and add an estimated 234,000 TEU to trade volume at the Port. The deployed ships will have an average capacity of 3,500 TEU.

This is great news and yet another positive sign that we are recovering from the recent downturn in trade,said Port of Long Beach Deputy Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle. It also underscores Matson? superior performance and the fact that the Port of Long Beach remains a premier gateway for trade with Asia.?The weekly service will begin in mid-August and be in full deployment by early October. With the new service, Matson will offer twice weekly departures from Shanghai, with 10-day transit time, the fastest in the Transpacific trade. Matson currently offers customers a weekly service from Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai to Long Beach.

?atson? expanded service is a direct response to the exceptionally positive support were received from customers utilizing our CLX service,said Dave Hoppes, senior vice president of ocean services. The addition of the dynamic markets of Hong Kong and Shenzhen will allow us to offer our customers premium service from southern and central China. Matson offers ocean transportation services for Hawaii, Guam, China and Micronesia, as well as logistics services. Matson is also a recipient of the Clean Air Action Plan 2010 awards for environmental leadership.