The Aloha class is a pair of

cargo ships A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

built by

Philly Shipyard Philly Shipyard, formerly Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, is a commercial shipyard located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on part of the site of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The commercial yard began after the United States Navy had ...

for Matson. The vessels are the largest of their type to be built in the United States. Matson placed the $418 million order for the two ships in November 2013. In October 2015, the ceremonial first steel cutting took place, with both ships to be built roughly in parallel until their deliveries in late 2018. The first vessel, ''Daniel K. Inouye'', was christened on 30 June 2018, though outfitting work continued until late in the year. She was delivered on 1 November, and made her first voyage to Hawaii later in the month. The second ship, ''Kaimana Hila'', was christened on 9 March 2019, and entered service in August. Matson operates both ships from continental United States ports to Hawaii and Guam. At in length, and with a

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, pro ...

of 50,794 DWT, Aloha-class ships are the largest container ships ever built in the United States. Each ship has a cargo capacity of 3,600

TEUs The twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports.Rowlett, 2004. It is based on the volume of a intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box w ...

and is powered by a dual fuel engine, burning either diesel fuel or

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the v ...

, that gives a service speed of about .

References

{{reflist * https://www.matson.com/aloha-class.html * https://investor.matson.com/news-releases/news-release-details/matson-philly-shipyard-mark-aloha-class-ship-construction Cargo ships of the United States Ship classes