COURTESY YOUNG BROTHERS LTD. Young Brothers Ltd. will replace its old barges and tugboats with more efficient vessels at a cost of about $130 million. This is one of the ships that will be replaced.

Young Bros. to invest $186M

The interisland shipper is preparing for more growth on the neighbor islands

Marking a major investment into its interisland cargo transportation system, Young Brothers Ltd. announced yesterday it will spend $186 million over 10 years on a new fleet of barges, tugboats, shipping containers, lifts and other equipment.

The self-described "Lifeline of the Hawaiian islands," the 106-year-old company is the state's largest interisland cargo line. Glenn Hong, Young Brothers' president, said the company is making the mammoth capital investment to prepare for continued growth on the neighbor islands.

"We have great confidence in Hawaii and are investing in the state's future," Hong said. "With increased cargo needs to and from the neighbor islands, we are planning to construct barges that will be able to carry 40 percent more cargo. The barges will be paired with tugs that are more powerful for better schedule reliability."

The company's first new barge, a car-carrying roll-on/roll-off barge that can transport 500 vehicles, is scheduled for delivery late this year, Hong said. The vessel, which is enclosed to protect cars from sea spray and salt air, is now being designed by Glosten Associates Inc. of Seattle, a naval architecture firm.

"In addition to providing better protection for the automobiles, having a dedicated roll-on/roll off barge will significantly enhance service by doubling capacity, reducing overall transit times and improving customer satisfaction," said Vic Angoco, Young Brothers' vice president and general manager.

The company now has 11 barges and eight tugboats, but plans to begin retiring some of those in the coming years, Hong said. The new fleet of eight barges and six tugboats will replace the old vessels with more efficient ones.

Hong said the company expects to receive a new barge approximately every year starting at the end of this year.

The price tag for the tugs and barges is expected to be about $130 million, Hong said.

The typical barge will cost about $8.5 million and the typical tugboat about $10 million, he said The rest of the investment, some $56 million, will go toward shoreside equipment, shipping containers and the like.

Hong said the company also plans to invest in new information management systems. Although relatively inexpensive compared with the new barges and tugboats, the technology systems are important because they will provide customers real-time data that they can use to track shipments, Hong said.

In 2005, Young Brothers had 926 barge sailings, an increase of 36 percent over its 683 sailings in 2000.