CARRIERS OPPOSE MATSON’s USE OF CDS-BUILT SHIPS IN U.S./HAWAII TRADE

CARRIERS OPPOSE MATSONÆS USE OF CDS-BUILT SHIPS IN U.S./HAWAII TRADE    Two U.S. shipping lines oppose a request by Matson Navigation Co. to use two containerships built with government subsidy in a new U.S. West Coast/Hawaii service.
   Opposition was voiced by Crowley Maritime Corp. and Van Ommeren Shipping (USA).
   The new service includes stops at Vancouver, British Columbia, which Matson says constitutes a foreign trade service. Under the law, vessels built with government subsidies are not allowed in the domestic shipping trades.
   Crowley says it is now an unsubsidized company and is in direct competition with Matson in the Hawaii trade. The company also said Matson showed no proof that its proposed service would garner 15 percent of the foreign trade, and that adding Vancouver would increase trade to the United States. Such claims are based only on possibilities, Crowley said.
   “Domestic operators should not have to compete with a fighting ship attempting to find market shares in a foreign trade to justify its existence in the domestic market,” Crowley said.
   Van Ommeren said that Matson’s proposed service would compete directly with the company’s “carrier-in-a-container service,” Van Ommeren said. “Matson’s statement that there is no opposition to its CDS waiver request from a direct competitor is patently incorrect.”