Matson suspends port operations for Hurricane Lane

by Michael Hansen, Hawaii Shippers Council, August 24, 2018

The Marine Log Magazine published on Friday, August 24, 2018, the news article¸ “Matson Navigation, FEMA, USCG prepare Hawaii for Hurricane.” It describes the closure of the Hawaii State commercial harbors and how Matson Navigation Company Inc. is preparing for Hurricane Lane.

The latest update as of 2:00 p.m. Friday, August 24, 2018, Hawaii Standard Time (HST), Lane was a Category 1 storm with 85 miles per hour sustained winds, positioned 120 miles south of Honolulu and moving North North East at 2 miles per hour.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) declared port condition Zulu closing all Hawaii State commercial harbors and ordered all commercial vessels over 200 gross tons to evacuate the harbors as of 11:00 a.m. Thursday, August 23, 2018.

To comply with USCG order, Matson and the other operators with commercial vessels in Hawaii harbors had to stop cargo operations and send their vessels to sea and wait out the hurricane. Those other vessels scheduled to arrive while the Hawaii ports are closed will have to wait at sea for a berth.

Key excerpts from Marine Log:

With…Hurricane Lane bearing down on Hawaii, Matson Navigation Company reports it is continuing to sail its vessels that serve the islands on a normal schedule to position inbound cargo for discharge as soon as possible after the reopening of Hawaii ports. The U.S. Coast Guard has set port condition Zulu at Hawaiian ports.

Matson's vessel Mahimahi arrived at Honolulu on time on August 22 and 537 containers were discharged prior to the closure of Honolulu Harbor. The vessel was then moved to a safe position offshore and will return to complete discharge of an additional 615 containers when the port reopens.

Including cargo that arrived on August 22 and has not yet been picked up by customers, there was a total of 665 containers of goods ready for pick up at Matson's Honolulu terminal when it closed in accordance with State Department of Transportation port closures on August 23 at 11:00 a.m. HST.

Matson vessels Manoa, Manulani, Matsonia and Mokihana, carrying a combined 3,500 containers of goods, are scheduled to call Honolulu on August 25, 26, 28, and 29, respectively, and will sail as scheduled to be positioned for service as soon as Honolulu Harbor is reopened.

In addition to the discharge of cargo from Mahimahi, two of Matson's three barges dedicated to serving Hawaii's neighbor island ports from Honolulu were loaded and dispatched early morning on August 23 toward Kahului and Hilo, respectively, where they will position offshore and be ready to serve those ports as they reopen.