Matson Navigation Company,a U.S. carrier in the Pacific, is mobilizing to resume cargo operations to the Big Island of Hawaii following the State of Hawaii declaring the ports of Hilo and Kawaihae open for commercial operations.

Having been positioned in a safe area east of the Big Island, Matson’s barge Columbia is now expected to be dockside at Hilo, Saturday, August 25, at 7:00 a.m. and container operations will commence immediately. Inbound cargo is expected to become available to customers by mid-morning.

Matson has continued to sail its vessel schedule as normal throughout preparations for Hurricane Lane in an effort to position cargo for distribution in Hawaii as soon as possible following the reopening of Hawaii ports. Its barge Haleakala is holding a position close to Maui in anticipation of Kahului Harbor reopening soon.

The company’s vessel Mahimahi arrived at Honolulu on time August 22 and 537 containers were discharged prior to the closure of Honolulu Harbor. The vessel was then moved to a safe position off shore and will return to complete discharge of an additional 615 containers when the port reopens.

Including cargo that arrived on Mahimahi and has not yet been picked up by customers, there was a total of 665 containers of goods ready for pick up at Matson’s Honolulu terminal when the port was closed August 23.

Matson vessels Manoa, Manulani, Matsonia and Mokihana, carrying a combined 3,500 containers of goods, are scheduled to call Honolulu today, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.