MATSON TO INCREASE RATES BY 2.75%

MATSON TO INCREASE RATES BY 2.75%    Matson Navigation Co., the U.S. mainland/Hawaii shipping line, has filed a 2.75 percent general rate increase, effective April 14, with the Surface Transportation Board.
   The carrier described the increase as “modest,” and said it will help offset rises in operating costs and support ongoing investments.
   “Though Matson experienced a 90 percent decline in operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2001, the company is holding the general rate increase at the lowest level in three years,” a spokesman for Matson said.
   Matson said that Hawaii is still recovering from the negative impact Sept. 11 had on the state’s economy, particularly the visitor industry.
   Matson has implemented a number of cost control measures, the most significant being the reduction, from eight to seven, in the number of vessels operating in Matson’s Pacific Coast/Hawaii service.
   The carrier’s last general rate increase was 3.5 percent and was implemented in February 2001.
   Matson is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.