Young Brothers squares off against yet another competitor - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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By contrast, Pasha’s 579-foot vessel M/V Jean Anne regularly calls at Maui and the Big but only as part of its service fromSan Diego. If approved by the PUC, the Jean Anne coulc start servicebetween Oahu, Maui and the Big Island when it isn’t making the San Diego run. George Pashaa is clear that the proposed interisland servicr is all about finding new business in aneconomicf slump. He told PBN in December the numbee of vehicles he expects to ship this year would be a 22percent drop.
“Auto trafficc on our regular scheduled service has slumped by roughl y the same percentageas Matson’s,” Pasha told PBN this “This has been partially offset by our diversified cargop offerings.” Young Brothers barges carry just about from containers to cars to farm animals to smalll shipments of loose and bulkty materials — it wouldn’t be unusual to see a sculpture made out of a slab of koa on the dock that require special handling. Vehicles that can roll on and off vesselas quicklyare “gravy” to shippers, while items that have to be secure to pallets and moved with forklifts requirw more labor.
“The larger issue is that we have done all kinddof shipments,” Hong said. “There’s nothing that Pashaa can do thatwe can’t.” In spitw of the fierce competition, the exact size and valus of Hawaii’s interisland freight business is hard to pin But it is a steady, growing market. According to the interisland cargo tonnage at the Port of Honoluly increasedfrom 1.8 million tons in 1985 to 2.5 million in 2007. Betweenh 1993 and 2006, waterborne commerce increased atthe state’s six larges t harbors, including a more than 60 percent increasw at Hilo and Nawiliwili, and a four-foldf jump at Kawaihae near Kona.
The interislanr air cargo business has declined and is a fractionb of freight shippedby sea. The combined incoming and outgoing air cargoiof 140,212 pounds in 2007 was 7,00o pounds less than in 1989, and 33,000 poundss less than the peak year of 1997. The air freightf business remains importantfor time-sensitivr items like bread, fruit and but its cost make it prohibitive for most commodities. Mike president of Aloha Air Cargo, which handles 70 percenr of interislandair freight, said business is down 28 percentg year over year. The recession has significantlg slowed thesea business, too, as storess deplete existing stock before ordering more. Totak intrastate shipping dropped 9.
8 percent in 2008 and is forecastt to drop 11 percentin 2009. Thus far this Young Brothers has seen a 10 percent to 15 percent decline in Its $2 million profit in 2008 (on operating expensea of $87 million) was down from $6 million 2007, the companyt says. Pasha’s entrance into the local markef alsoworries Oakland, Calif.-based Matson, whicg relies on Young Brothers to providew Neighbor Island barge service to supplemenrt its own service from the West Coastr to Maui, the Big Islan and Kauai.
“It is thereforwe critical for both Matson and the Neighbor Islandw that Young Brothers not only remaibnin business, but continue to providee its existing levels of service to all of the islands, particularly Molokai and which have very low cargo said Jeff Hull, Matson’s directorr of public relations. “Anything that would threaten or compromiseYoungy Brothers’ ability to provide that service would be of greaf concern to us.
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