USA Horizon Lines will raise its westbound shipping rates by 3.3 percent starting Jan. 1.The announcement comes about a week after Matson Navigation Co. said it would do the same.Horizon's increase will cost shippers $100 more per container sent to Hawaii. If containers are transported via rail on the Mainland to a port and then sent to Hawaii, the company will charge $175 more than it does now.Just as Matson did, Horizon will also charge $150 more for terminal handling fees on any container entering Hawaii. It currently charges $325.It will also add $75 to the $165 it now charges for containers headed to the Mainland.In a letter to its customers on Wednesday, Horizon said it was raising prices to cover the cost of improvements to its ships and facilities, including the $9.5 million it plans to spend on improvements to its Hawaii operations.Horizon will also add five ships to its Hawaii rotation over the next year, bumping the number from seven to 12. Horizon said it must spend $4.5 million to modify its cranes in Honolulu Harbor to accomodate the new ships.
Horizon Lines, Inc.container shipping and logistics company, accounting for approximately 36% of the total U.S. marine container shipments between the continental U.S. and the three non-contiguous Jones Act markets of Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and to Guam. The company is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.