US Merchant Marine Series (Episode 2) - Matson Navigation Company
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- Matson Navigation Company
What's Going on With Shipping?
Jan. 7, 2024
In this series, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the US Merchant Marine as of Jan 1, 2024. In this episode, he details the Matson Navigation Company.
#merchantmarine #supplychain #matson #maritime #unions #schools #academies
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Marine Traffic
www.marinetraffic.com
About Matson
www.matson.com/corporate/abou...
Matson Network Map
www.matson.com/wp-content/upl...
Matson History
www.matson.com/corporate/abou...
Fun fact: Matson was one of the few shipping lines that once had its own airline. Matson Lines flew two DC-4s named the "Sky Matsonia” and the “Sky Royal Hawaiian.”
I know a lot about this company and I never heard this. Are you sure?
@kylekorona Yes, it is true. Matson could never get scheduled route authority from the CAB and then there was scheduled competition from Pan American. The operation lasted about a year after WWII.
It is true.
Ernie Gann flew for them and there are a few great stories in his book "Fate is the Hunter".
@@hollywood1340Excellent book!
Almost 10 years ago I was working as reefer aboard the MV Manukai. I got pancreatitis
aboard the ship. 1 day out of Hawaii heading to Guam the shore side doctors recommended
the ship head to port to get me to hospital. They did not know what I had. The Captain
turned right around going back to Hawaii and put me ashore. Matson put me up at Queens
hospital in a private room. They paid for over a week there plus the operation to remove
my gall bladder. A week in a hotel for me to recover and 1st class airfare home. They
gave me a number to call with a man there to take care of any problems I had.
They actually care about there crew not just talking about it. Best company.
Hawaii has a population of around 1.5 million, but a tourist population of 10 million per year.
Hawaii imports over 95% of its food. The food in stores one week likely came in on a ship witin the last 7 days. food in restaraunts and hotels is a bit more variable, but still on a “just in time” basis.
If the port of Honolulu goes down do to natural or human-caused catastrophe, Oahu - the busiest and most densely populated island - would be in a world of hurt.
Medicines and basically all durable goods and consumer goods are also imported - mostly via ships.
Hawaii’s predicament is instrcutive for all of us. Hawaii’s dependence on ocean-going shipping seems extreme to those f us living in, say, Minnesota. But my too-few years in beautiful Hawaii made me keenly aware of how dependent we all are on ocean-going shipping.
Thank you for the great work on the Merchant Marine - and for the super summary of Hawaiian ocean-going shipping, Sal! I really have appreciated the depth and breadth of your insight into global shipping. Oh - and it seems that I could not go anywhere on the island of Oahu without seeing a Matson shipping container somewhere nearby! And plenty Young Brothers too - but mostly Matson! 😅
Great comments and insight. Thanks!
I work with Matson crews periodically and they are a great company. They have been retiring some of their older ships recently. They will sit in Seattle or Tacoma for a period then they are gone. They are huge when Hawaii has a disaster. Great episode Sal. These must take a lot more time to make than a news video. Good to get some west coast love. What’s going on with the battery ship fire in Dutch Harbor. Thanks Sal
Great presentation on Matson, Sal. Back in the days of the Lurline, my uncle was, I believe, an electrical engineer for Matson. My recollection was he was very proud to be associated with the company. Living in Seattle for several decades it was hard to miss them at the terminals or heading up or down the sound. Matson is an important part of the Pacific history, thank you.
Several of your recent videos have brought to light the importance of having a standing ready Merchant marine. I think this is lost on the general public and certainly lost on our political leaders as well. That's quite worrisome.
Matson, my step-fathers favorite shipper...and he was a Superintendent of Cargo Operaations, San Diego.
The best part of waking up is sal in your cup
I love Matson & have them in my portfolio. I've been investing in them for years & they've never let me down.
If I’d had you for high school history, history would have been my favorite subject. Thanks for another great episode Hawaii is fortunate to have such a dedicated shipping company.
For decades only two companies served Hawai'i (and the Marina Islands if not mistaken), Sea Train/Land and Matson. Sal, Mahalo for reporting on my home State the BIG Five-O, 50th.
Sal really buries the lede here: the big point is, Matson invented container shipping. He gets around to it eleven minutes in, but given a truly historic fact of this imporance, I'd have thought it was the main thing to be said about excellent Matson.
First they built a one-forty-footer roll-on-roll-off lighter to serve around the islands. Then some guy on their senior staff said, "Hey, this forty-footer thing is neat. Let's do it everywhere."
There was a small problem at the time: the docks at Long Beach were controlled by a ver-ree militant Communist union. But Matson had another bright thought, "Hmm, maybe Communists like money." So they went to the union with a two part offer: first we give everybody in Long Beach right now a life-time job at a hefty raise; second, we get your leader a membership in the Bohemian Grove.
Bingo! Problem solved: Long Beach automates like crazy, Matson switches to all-container ships and the industry follows, and Long Beach becomes as dominant in peace time as it had been important in war.
Sal. What also makes Matson unique (my opinion) is the ethical business practices for all these decades. Prices, level of reliability, number and modern ship types are all ethically balanced concerning Matson operations. No company is perfect, but the Hawai'i legislators have little problems with Matson.
Suggestion topic: Ethical shipping practices. That be interesting. Mahalo Sal
Thanks Sal for the great piece on Matson, I have a soft spot for Matson, just graduating high school I joined the Merchant Marine and worked on several of their ships in the late 60's and early 70's, I was on the Hawaiian Citizen, the Kopaa, and the Californian. The Kopaa had an interesting history as it was originally a WW2 T2 tanker named the "Mission San Juan" it served in the Korean war as a tanker and in 1964 it was reacquired by the navy and converted to a missile tracker and renamed "Flagstaff" and then again to "Mercury" it served as a link between astronauts and Cape Canaveral and then for the Project Apollo moon shot. She was finally sold to Matson and converted in Portland, OR to a bulk carrier in 1970. As I recall her maiden voyage was to Alaska to pick up a load of fertilizer and from then on it was on the Hawaiian bulk sugar run sailing between Kawaihae and Crockett CA.
My uncle was the treasurer of Grace Lines, long forgotton but a major shipper years ago.
I remember Grace Lines. Also, I sailed for Prudential Lines, who bought some of their ships.
Hey Sal great job! Just a small correction Matson terminals on the west coast LA/Long beach and Tacoma are leased and operated by SSA. There is a convoluted partnership between SSA and Matson where Matson owns a portion of SSA which is a subsidiary of Carrix which owns a portion of Matson 🤔. Either way Matson terminals are operated by SSA employees/longeshore. Also Matson still has 24’ containers in their system which require non industry standard modified equipment to handle.
in passing question, what is SSA, as I'm sure you are not referring to a particular virtual AI musician from a particular anime series from 1982.
@@Zarcondeegrissom 😂no Stevedoring services of America, one of the major terminal operators
@@moparbryan thanks. For a while, I have abbreviated Sharon Apple as SSA for shorter filenames. I was unaware of Stevedoring Services of America before now, something important to keep in mind.
Puget Sound resident who appreciates your history of the ships I've seen all my life!
Learning a lot of new information, thanks Sal.
Glad to help
When I was 11 years old, in 1958, I sailed on the SS Lurline from Los Angeles to Honolulu. My return trip return trip was on the SS Matsonia to San Francisco.
Both one class liners (First), it was a great way to travel when the distances were great. The 707 was just going into service at that point.
One memory was taking a boat around Pearl Harbor. This was before the Memorial was built. The USS Arizona was lying there, just as She fell 17 years before. I think there was still oil leaking. It was a very somber experience, even for an 11 year old, as December 7th still fresh in the memories of the adults.
Great episode... Thanks
In 1959 I took the ocean liner SS Matsonia from SF to Honolulu. I was 4 years old but vividly remember coming into Honolulu bay.
Great job. I used Matson many years ago and they were good to work with.
Great information you are always interesting to listen to. Yes we need more ships made in the US and Canada. We need to support are ship builders on this side of of the pond. Would love to see an episode about SEA-SPAN as well.
Their offices are in Oakland and they also operated an airline as well.
Enjoyed it very much. Keep them coming 😎👊💯🇺🇲
My grandparents sailed on the Lurline to Hawaii in the 60’s. We were able to go aboard for a Bon Voyage party. I remember the streamers as the ship left the pier in San Francisco.
Excellent History, AND Current Events lesson. ! ! ! !
I love that you can just find your niche and have a channel doing what you love and making content you are passionate about!
Thanks for the background, Sal. Having sailed into Pearl, can confirm: tiny port.
I liked it. Excellent. Nitty-gritty of how our lives are affected by shipping, Hawaii, Ukraine, Guyana, New Jersey or Sydney
Very interesting Sal . I was familiar with the east coast but twice on trips too Hawaii noticed the Matson ships also First time seeing a large Cable ship which i thought was cool could you site whats happening in and on the history of the shipping and service to Kwajalene in the Pacific thanks :GF
Back in the late 80s I enjoyed "Matson Theater" on the local TV channel on Guam.
Good times......................
I have been a frequent visitor to Hawaii. I see lots of Matson boxes when I am there.
They have pretty decent port facilities at Maui! 😎✌️
Thanks for the look at Matson Navigation Company.
How interesting! My husband works for Matson and I learned a good bit here.
My grandpa was born on Hawaii, son of Ukrainian immigrants and lifelong merchant marine, who became chief engineer for Matson lines. Matson ran supplies to North Africa during WWII. He was at sea for months and sometimes years at a time, after moving to the SF Bay Area. They emigrated to the SF Bay Area on the Lurline
I didn't know anything about Matson, Thank you for this video.
The State of Hawai‘i is working to dispose of the only remaining ship that belonged to Matson's original fleet, the sailing vessel FALLS OF CLYDE. There was a plan to transport the ship back to Scotland, where she was launched in 1878. However, DOT Harbors made the terms of removal difficult rather than trying to work with the group that was working on the plan. It really is very sad that this historic ship is in danger of being broken up or scuttled offshore.
⚓️ Thanks MH 🌈 I volunteer on Jeremiah O’Brien… we’re having the same problems , Covid had a huge effect on volunteer base & fundraising is tough 😎
It is the only remaining historic ship (in the rigging sense) that has more than 3 masts. FALLS OF CLYDE having four masts.
@@zeroone8800 There are other four-masted historic ships that still exist. For example the MOSHULU in Philly, the PEKING in Hamburg, and the POMMERN in Åland. Captain Matson started his company with sailing cargo ships, of which FALLS OF CLYDE was one. She is actually currently known (a US National Historic Landmark) for being the only example of a sail-driven tanker left in the world. While actively sailing as a tanker, she carried petroleum products for Associated Oil from California to Hawai‘i.
@@pierheadjump Thank you for your work in helping to preserve her. Although I haven't had the chance to visit the JEREMIAH O’BRIEN, I hope to one day! I have friends who worked at SF Maritime and I have visited the ships there.
@@maritimehawaiiA cousin of mine served many years on Pommern! (Also built in Scotland, iirc.) 🇦🇽 It's the centerpiece of the wonderful maritime museum in Mariehamm, Åland, the Swedish-speaking islands of Finland. 🇫🇮 😎✌️
Matson has always had a ship named the Lurline. It was the name of the founder's daughter, so he always named a ship in the Matson fleet after her. There have been succession of SS Lurline's operated by Mason over the years since the early 1900's. In 1921, my grandparents emigrated from Hawaii to California (San Francisco) on one of the SS Lurlines.
Yes, it was a bit confusing when there two Lurline's in the fleet. We had to say which one you talking about the steam ship or the motor vessel.
I worked as a drayman is Seattle in the 90’s. Lots of great memories and stories
A young lady (Molly) I know from motorcycling graduated from Kings Point in 2022 as a Marine Engineer. Her mother (Lisa), another motorcyclist, is a high-ranking Submarine Engineer with NAVSEA. Lisa told her daughter to stay away from Duck Boats, I wonder if she added the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait to the list.
When I was a kid we traveled Matson to the mainland. Ships like the Matsonia or Lurline.
TY Sal for this video.. I live in Maui and yes Matson is huge here.. Most of the containers we have here are via Barge.. Young brothers are also prevalent on the Island of Maui.. We also have Pasha which brings vehicles here.. BTW I started watching your video when you first started.. Look how many followers you have now! You have done a great service.. TY again !
Thank Sal and happy new year!
I hope you do Lykes Lines!
Lykes is no longer active, but I may do a historical series.
Crazy to think they’re still working the old C-9 vessels. 💪🏼 US flagged 🇺🇸
Cut my teeth on the C9's it was first Second and First AE job's.
San I saw them when I was in the Navy onto the Pacific, Then they disappeared when I went Norfolk! Thank you for bringing this clarity, I like your ideas to build more!
Those old Matteson 24 ft containers you can occasionally find in Alaska where somebody has been using it for storage.
Thanks!
Matson was big and impressive in Hawaii in the mid sixties!
Nice video🏆One of few shipping companies still existing (Matson) with a swedish born founder. Though danish and norweigian today still big names in shipping. Finnish companies did either so well - as in Sweden the glory days ends in the 1970s. Respect to Matson Shipping who has survied - and there have been for sure many "obstacles" on their way 🇫🇮
Dad was a purser on their C-2s when they installed the cells for the first TEUs.
Being in the MFOW, I’ve made numerous trips to Hawaii on Matson ships.
Now, this is an excellent video...
Educational as well...
Always great to hear from you Sal!! I hope you're enjoying some down time!!
Recent videos have had audio issues Sal. This one as well. Still okay but a significant decrease in dynamic range. The video upload here is only allowing 720P. Have you made changes to your mic, your position or perhaps in settings? It was better...
Got to move all the different sized containers at the warehouse I worked at in Jacksonville FL. Shunt driver extrodonairre 24' - 53'😎🤣 thanks Sal.
I have a good friend from Hawaii, and she told me about Matson. I enjoyed finding out more and made me like them even more with what they have done and are doing.
I retired from Matson, two years ago. It was a good company to work for. I worked on many of their ship as CE and First AE. Then, I worked as Port Engineer as they rolled out those new builds. For a long time Matson ran very old ships, it has only been the last five years or so they been aggressively replacing vessel. The reasons for that could be a show of it's own. I believe you covered Matson very well. Thanks for getting the information out there.
Great company story!
Cool video. I grew up in the LA area and then lived in the Seattle/Tacoma area for a while. I saw Matson containers and just assumed they were everywhere. Now I'm in Ohio and this video made me realize I haven't seen Matson containers around here.
thank you sal u the greatest u great shared facebook history on ships is kool
My beer got warm waiting for you to say "Bab al-Mandab" Sal !!!
Love the forward house ships! Has to be a crappy ride!
Sounds interesting…
Building ships in Philly can be expensive…
But powering them with LNG sounds like lower costs overall, while not supporting opec+…
LNG is typically so low cost, it often gets burned off as a side stream…
Sal, tell us more about LNG powered ships! (Are they realistic yet?)
😃
Go LNG!
I sailed on Matson PFE and APL out of San Francisco as an AB, member of SUP in the sixties.
i'm glad to see you are safe and still parrot :)
The Navy, Venezuela and $50m: Who is ‘Fat Leonard’, the fugitive behind historic military corruption case? I know this isn’t relevant to the current subject, but could you shed more light on this this corruption scandal? 8:43 thanks for all you do for Maritime history and current events stay healthy.
🦁🦁🦁THE LION🦁🦁🦁, Richardton, ND
No big ships in North Dakota. Not even many barges. This time of year you can put a fishing shack out on the ice. I wonder if they are covered by the Jones Act?
glad Sal came back.
People don’t recognize the negative effect raising tariffs had, this company is the ONLY US owned international shipping company in the top 30, the rest are all foreign owned. Even then, this company primarily shipped to Alaska and Hawaii. So, you can see how much it mattered when tariffs were raised, it was automatic for companies to raise their shipping rates, and for US citizens to start paying more for foreign goods.
Excellent presentation I know who designed their shipping containers
Great to hear the history but I have to say it would be a much smarter subsidy than many of the looser companies the federal government has chosen. Thanks!!
How about a nice Hawaiian Punch ?😊
I would say only a free market with the incentives of profit and loss to maximize efficiency could fix domestic US ship building. Gov subsidies would create something a kin to college tuition if employed.
Thanks Sal
As I understand it, Mattson has medium and small container ships. This means Mattson can efficiently serve different routes. Disregarding that benefit how do costs per container vary between different size container ships? Thank you.
Sal. Is there a website or book that shows what the
letters on the container mean on what lines own the container. Example MCS or OOCL Thank you Dave
Why do we see a shift in where the bridge is on the ship?
Seems on the older ones they’re usually a bit further forward and on the newer ones they’re further aft.
Would love to hwar your take on the tugs owned by the Santa Fe railway (back when the AT&SF had an airline)
My grandad a Marine, was thrown, bodily, from the Waikiki. Thus began my long-standing joke, "My grandfather has been thrown out of nicer bars than I've ever been in!"
I'm actually surprised by their speed . These Merchants can easily keep pace with LHD's.
I remember hearing about a Matson ship that raced the Union Steamship Co. Ship Awatea across the Tasman Sea. Anyone know that story?
A very interesting topic. As an Australian, I am pretty sure our merchant fleet is almost non existent . Can you tell me and many other interested watchers of your show . Does Australia have a merchant fleet now. The last ship i watched enter Geraldton harbour under Australian flag was the "Australian Spirit" AndI havent seen that ship for many years..... I have just started watching your very informative and often interesting You Tube channel.. Great work you do..
I read that, it was with Matson building the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki, that mass tourism was invented.
did a double-take when you said "D-7" as I thought that was only a klingon class, lol.
Super duper dude
Your audio is a bit distorted this time. Did you crank it up for an interview and forget to set it back? Love the channel
So, I had an issue with my mic stand and had to ad hoc a holder.
No worries as my new mic arrived yesterday.
All good Sal. Not being critical, just wanted to make sure you were aware.
Great Sal , does someone know salaries here for navigation department? How much chief mate , second mate , third mate had in US dollars
I've been seeing lots of Matson 53' containers on domestic intermodal trains and traverses only in the lower 48, I've asked a Honolulu harbor pilot if he's seen any and he said he hasn't seen any on Sand Island on Oahu, I'm curious why the 53' containers hasn't been to Hawaii yet.
May well have to do with the road sizes/transportation needs on the islands. During a recent visit to Oahu, we saw relatively few 40’ containers on the road as compared to 20’ containers.
How about a video that explains how to interpret the DART buoy system.
They still have ships under U S flag. I know because I have been on their ships through the MFOW..
Can you do a video on the practice of "shanghaied"?
👍
you would think by now the reverse maps (nautical style) wouldn't bother me, they still look weird to me
I thought they were there in the 60's. Ah - Matson Bears was a different division. The Bears served Kwajalein and other military bases. Might not be Matson .
So how is Matson not a part of critical national defense? I would much rather give subsidies to companies like this because they are actually offering something of value. They should have got a piece of the defense budget for such projects. If the supply chain COVID crisis didn’t teach these people anything about how supply chain is a strategic part of our national defense I don’t know what will. What happens if a Chinese company or God forbid a Russian company were to purchase Matson?
Nothing like seeing empty shelves, Tuesday and Wednesday of each week in Hilo
Young brothers & Matson are why
However
Amazon just bought 17% of Hawaiian airlines parent company
Manoa looks like the old SL-7's similar length just doesn't have the speed
Yes it was interesting being a haole in Hawaii
👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸👍
As I often say to Peter Zeihan and Professor Gerdes, where are you going to get the money for subsidies? I'm all for it if you can pay for it. Show me your budget cuts.