The latest shutdown of shipping operations on the West Coast has affected several container ships operated by Matson Navigation Co. and CSX Lines, the two largest carriers of ocean freight to Hawaii. Lockout affects
major isle shippers
West Coast cargo piles up
Star-Bulletin staff
Matson said its vessel SS Lihue left Oakland, Calif., Friday, hours before the Pacific Maritime Association first locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on Wednesday.
The R.J. Pfeiffer left Los Angeles for Honolulu about midday yesterday before the current lockout started and before all the cargo booked for the voyage could be loaded. It is scheduled to arrive Thursday.
The SS Ewa was docked in Oakland yesterday morning but left for Los Angeles before any of its cargo was either loaded or unloaded. The SS Kauai remained docked in Seattle where only a portion of its cargo was unloaded yesterday.
The SS Matsonia left Honolulu for Oakland Friday night and is scheduled to arrive Wednesday.
At CSX Lines, the CSX Trader, which was to sail from Tacoma., Wash., yesterday for Oakland before heading for Hawaii Wednesday is stuck in Tacoma, said Brian Taylor, CSX general manager for Hawaii-Guam. The CSX Consumer was to leave Long Beach (the container port for Los Angeles) early Saturday for Honolulu and is delayed indefinitely at Long Beach.
The CSX Navigator is en route to Oakland and is supposed to unload there and sail on to Long Beach, leaving there Friday night for Honolulu. Its schedule is now uncertain.
In a news release yesterday, Matson President and Chief Executive Officer James Andrasick said the company's West Coast operations have stopped through at least tomorrow's day shift.
Matson's parent company Alexander & Baldwin said in a release yesterday that a "shutdown of a few days is not expected to be a significant drag on Alexander & Baldwin Inc. income, but a protracted shutdown will be costly to the company."
However, the release went on to say that A&B "does have sufficient resources to remain financially secure in the event of a protracted shutdown."
Taylor at CSX said his company is "aggressively working with the federal mediation officer to try to bring a resolution to this and bring people back to work as soon as possible."
Pacific Maritime Association
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
