Matson Announces New Service to Okinawa

Westbound transit times to Naha will be 20 days from Seattle, 18 days from Oakland, 17 days from Long Beach and 10 days from Honolulu.  Eastbound transits from Naha will be 14 days to Long Beach, 17 days to Oakland and 33 days to Seattle.

Along with fastest transit times, Matson's dedicated terminal operations on the West Coast provide shippers with late cut-off times, industry-leading truck turn times and use of Matson's extensive owned chassis inventory throughout the U.S.

Matson operates its CLX service with five U.S. flagged vessels carrying containerized and bulk cargo.  These vessels will be the most modern vessels serving Okinawa from the U.S.

The new service will commence with departures from Seattle on January 28, Oakland on January 31 and Long Beach on February 1 with a first Naha arrival on February 18, 2017.

"Matson has been rated the #1 ocean carrier in the world for three years running because of its commitment to operating the fastest and most reliable service in the markets we serve," said John Lauer, senior vice president, Ocean Services.  "Consistent with that commitment and Matson's strategy to look for ways to leverage its superior Pacific network to offer new services, adding Naha allows us to provide the fastest service to an important locale for the U.S. government without diminishing our eastbound CLX capacity out of China.  The westbound transit time from Long Beach to Naha will save shippers up to four days on existing services in the market."

Bookings for westbound cargo to Naha will be handled by Matson's award-winning Customer Service Center.  Matson has appointed Pacific Logistics, Inc. as its exclusive agent handling bookings for eastbound cargo from Naha.

Naha will replace the current direct call at Xiamen, China in our China-Long Beach Express (CLX) service, which will then call Long Beach-Honolulu-Guam-Naha-Ningbo-Shanghai-Long Beach.  Matson will maintain its office in Xiamen to continue serving Xiamen customers with transshipment via Shanghai.  The last direct call at Xiamen will be Sunday, February 5.

About Matson

Founded in 1882, Matson (NYSE: MATX) is a leading U.S. carrier in the Pacific. Matson provides a vital lifeline to the economies of Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and select South Pacific islands, and operates a premium, expedited service from China to Southern California. The Company's fleet of 22 owned vessels includes containerships, combination container and roll-on/roll-off ships and custom-designed barges. Matson Logistics, established in 1987, extends the geographic reach of Matson's transportation network throughout the continental U.S. Its integrated, asset-light logistics services include rail intermodal, highway brokerage, warehousing, and less-than-container load freight consolidation and forwarding to Alaska. Additional information about Matson, Inc. is available at www.matson.com.   

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation those statements regarding transit times and truck turn times, and market conditions in the China service.  These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the relevant forward-looking statement, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties relating to regional, national and international economic conditions; new or increased competition or improvements in competitors' service levels; the impact of future and pending legislation, including environmental legislation; government regulations and investigations; repeal, substantial amendment or waiver of the Jones Act or its application, or our failure to maintain our status as a United States citizen under the Jones Act; and the occurrence of marine accidents, poor weather or natural disasters.  These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This release should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC through the date of this release, which identify important factors that could affect the forward-looking statements in this release. We do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Matson, Inc.

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