Matson Launches Okinawa Service
Posted by Eric Haun
September 5, 2017
U.S. carrier Matson, Inc. said it has inaugurated service to the port of Naha, Okinawa as part of its expedited China-Long Beach Express (CLX) service. Having received all necessary permits and clearances, the new weekly service made its first call at Naha on September 2, 2017.
Westbound transit times to Naha are 17 days from Long Beach, 18 days from Oakland, 21 days from Seattle, and 11 days from Honolulu. Eastbound transits from Naha are 14 days to Long Beach, 17 days to Oakland and 33 days to Seattle.
John Lauer, Matson Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Adding Naha allows us to provide the fastest service to an important locale for the U.S. government. The westbound transit time from Long Beach to Naha will save shippers up to four days on existing services in the market.”
Along with fastest transit times, Matson's dedicated terminal operations on the West Coast provide shippers with late cut-off times, industry-leading truck turn times and use of Matson's extensive owned chassis inventory throughout the U.S.
Matson operates its CLX service with five U.S. flagged vessels carrying containerized and bulk cargo. These ships are the most modern vessels serving Okinawa from the U.S.
Bookings for westbound cargo to Naha are being handled by Matson's award-winning Customer Service Center. Matson has appointed Ekistics EpiCenter, Inc. (EEC, Inc.) as its exclusive agent in Okinawa.
Naha replaces the previous direct call at Xiamen, China in Matson's China-Long Beach Express (CLX) service, which will now call Long Beach-Honolulu-Guam-Naha-Ningbo-Shanghai-Long Beach.
