Matson, Inc., is an American
shipping
Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...
and navigation services company headquartered in
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, Hawaii. Founded in 1882, Matson, Inc.'s subsidiary Matson Navigation Company provides ocean shipping services across the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
to Hawaii, Alaska,
Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
, Micronesia, the
Pacific islands
The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
, China, and Japan.
History
William Matson (1849–1917) founded Matson Navigation Company. He was born in
Lysekil
Lysekil () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Lysekil Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 7,600 inhabitants in 2018. Situated on the south tip of Stångenäs peninsula at the mouth of Gullmarn fjord, it ...
in
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden.
The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...
, Sweden, and orphaned during childhood. He arrived in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
after a trip around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
in 1867. Working aboard the Dickel family yacht, he struck up a friendship with tycoon
Claus Spreckels, who financed many of Matson's new ships. In 1882, he sailed his three-masted schooner ''Emma Claudina'' into the
Hilo Bay of the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
.
The enterprise began in the carrying of merchandise, especially of plantation stores, to the islands and returning with cargoes of sugar, later expanding interests at each end of the line.
In 1924, Matson completed the
Matson Building, designed by
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...
and
Faville, at 215
Market Street in San Francisco, and noted as "one of a series of
Chicago School skyscrapers built during the 1910s and 1920s which give San Francisco its downtown character." It featured an observation tower and cupola at the northern corner of the building that enabled company executives to see its ships coming through the
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...
. The company later sold the building to
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...
, whose general office was next door at 245 Market. PG&E has incorporated the former Matson Building into its general office complex, keeping Matson-specific details such as elevator doors with detailed maps of Hawaii on them.
For a brief period after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Matson operated an airline using
Douglas DC-4 aircraft between the Pacific Coast and Hawaii. The airline ultimately ceased operations because of political pressure from
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...
, which resulted in inability to obtain federal government scheduled operating authority.
On December 1, 2011, Matson's then-parent company
Alexander & Baldwin announced that its board of directors approved a plan to split A&B and Matson into two separate companies. As part of the plan, Matson would leave
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, to become a
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
-based company. The two companies are now traded separately.
In 2015, Matson, Inc., acquired
Horizon Lines, formerly its main competitor in the United States domestic market, for $469 million.

Joining two
Aloha-class freighter sister ships delivered to Matson in 2018 and 2019; in November 2022, the company again contracted
Philly Shipyard to build three new
Jones Act compliant container ships at a cost of $1 billion.
Passenger ships

Primarily a conveyor of freight; from 1908 on, Matson introduced into service a number of passenger liners to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist trade. In 1926, following the death of its founder,
John D. Spreckels whose father,
Claus Spreckels, had been Matson's earliest financier; Matson took over the
Oceanic Steamship Company (Spreckels Line), operating three trans-Pacific liners, including the ''SS Sonoma''.
From the early 20th century through the 1970s, Matson liners sailed from the west coast ports of
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
and points beyond, including a handful of South Pacific ports of call as well as
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Two of their earlier
cargo liners, and , were the first passenger ships to place their engines aft.
Among the "white ships of Matson" were ''
Malolo'' (rechristened ''Matsonia''), ''
Lurline'', ''
Mariposa'', and ''
Monterey
Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census.
The city was fou ...
''. With the advent and expansion of routine air travel between the mainland and the islands, Matson's passenger service was greatly diminished, and the liners were eventually retired from trans-Pacific service and virtually gone by the end of the 1970s.
Hotels
In 1925, Matson acquired a controlling interest in the historic
Moana Hotel on
Waikiki on the island of
Oahu
Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...
. They constructed the nearby
Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927. In 1952, they built the SurfRider Hotel (today a wing of the Moana), followed by the
Princess Kaiulani Hotel in 1955. Matson sold the four properties to
Sheraton Hotels in 1959.
Current fleet
Matson's current cargo fleet of U.S.-flagged vessels include:
* ''Anchorage / Kodiak / Tacoma'' (sister ships)
* ''Daniel K. Inouye / Kaimana Hila'' (sister ships -
Aloha Classbr>
* ''Imua II / Liloa II'' (sister ships)
* ''Kamokuiki''
* ''Lihue''
* ''Lurline / Matsonia'' (sister ships -
Kanaloa-class freighter, Kanaloa Classbr>
* ''Manoa / Mahimahi'' (C9 sister ships)
* ''Manulani / Maunawili / Manukai'' (sister ships)
* ''Maunalei''
* ''Mokihana'' (C9 with garage conversion)
* ''Papa Mau''
* ''R.J. Pfeiffer''
* ''Haleakala''
* ''Mauna Loa''
* ''Waialeale''
See also
*
Young Brothers Hawaii
*
Pasha Hawaii
*
List of largest container shipping companies
Several Shipping line, shipping lines are involved in intermodal freight transport as part of international trade.
List of largest container shipping companies
This is a list of the 30 largest Container ship, container shipping companies as of M ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
The last ocean liners of Matson lines
{{Authority control
Shipping companies of the United States
Ferry companies of Hawaii
Transportation companies based in California
Water transportation in Hawaii
Companies based in Honolulu
Companies based in Oakland, California
Transport companies established in 1882
1882 establishments in California
Corporate spin-offs
2012 establishments in Hawaii
Dole plc
Companies in the Dow Jones Transportation Average
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Container shipping companies of the United States
Container shipping companies