nyse matx dow jones transportation average component industry shipping navigation founded april 10 1882 1882 04 10 headquarters honolulu hawaii usa area served united states key people walter a. dods jr. website www.matson.com matson inc. formerly known as matson navigation company is a public shipping company which was founded in 1882 . 1 the company provides shipping services pacific wide mainly to and from the hawaiian islands . 2 matson is credited with introducing mass tourism to hawaii with the opening of the historic moana hotel now known as the moana surfrider hotel and the royal hawaiian hotel in waikiki on the island of oahu . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit matson containers being loaded into a ship william matson 1849 1917 was the founder of the matson navigation company . he was born in lysekil in v stra g taland county sweden and orphaned during childhood . he arrived in san francisco after a trip around cape horn in 1867 . working aboard the spreckels family yacht he struck up a friendship with tycoon claus spreckels who financed many of matson s new ships . in 1882 the three masted schooner emma claudina ran to the hawaiian islands . the enterprise began in the carrying of merchandise especially of plantation stores to the islands and returning with cargoes of sugar . this led to gradually expanding interests at both ends of the line . increased commerce brought a corresponding interest in hawaii as a tourist attraction which soon prompted the construction of the moana hotel in 1901 . more steamships continued to join the fleet . when captain matson died in 1917 the matson fleet comprised 14 of the largest fastest and most modern ships in the pacific passenger freight service . historical image from matson lines promoting their hawaiian hotels the decade from the mid 1920s to the mid 1930s marked a significant period of matson expansion . in 1925 the company established matson terminals inc. a wholly owned subsidiary to perform stevedoring and terminal services for its fleet . with increasing passenger traffic to hawai i matson built a world class luxury liner the malolo in 1927 . at the time malolo was the fastest ship in the pacific cruising at 22 knots 41 km h . its success led to the building of the luxury liners mariposa monterey and lurline between 1930 and 1932 . matson s famed white ships were instrumental in the development of tourism in hawaii . in addition beginning in 1927 with the construction of the royal hawaiian hotel matson s waikiki hotels provided tourists with luxury accommodations both ashore and afloat . to generate excitement and allure for hawaii as a world class tourist destination matson developed an ambitious and enduring advertising campaign that involved the creative efforts of famous photographers such as edward steichen and anton bruehl . in addition matson commissioned artists to design memorable keepsake menus for the voyages as well as during their stay at the royal hawaiian . 3 during this period matson built a luxurious headquarters at 215 market street in san francisco ; notably it featured an observation tower and cupola at the northern corner of the building that enabled company executives to see its ships coming through the golden gate . the company later sold the building to pacific gas and electric company whose general office was next door at 245 market . pg & e has incorporated the former matson building into its general office complex keeping matson specific details such as elevator doors with detailed maps of hawaii on them . for a brief period after world war ii matson operated a luxurious airline using douglas dc 4 aircraft between the pacific coast and hawaii . the airline ultimately ceased operations because of political pressure from pan american world airways which resulted in inability to obtain federal government scheduled operating authority . today matson continues to ship cargo across the pacific and plays a key role in the economy of hawaii the west coast and the trading of goods from east to west . on december 1 2011 matson s then parent company alexander & baldwin announced that its board of directors approved a plan to split a & b and matson into two separate companies . as part of the plan matson would leave oakland california to become a honolulu based company . the two companies are now traded separately . 4 in 2015 matson inc. acquired horizon lines formerly its main competitor in the united states domestic market for 469 million . 5 operations edit shipping dock in hawaii with matson containers primarily a conveyor of cargo matson also introduced into service a number of passenger liners to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist trade . in 1926 matson took over the oceanic steamship company operating three trans pacific liners including sonoma . from the early 20th century through the 1970s matson liners sailed from the west coast ports of san francisco and los angeles to honolulu and points beyond including a handful of south pacific ports of call as well as sydney australia and auckland new zealand . two of their earlier cargo liners maui and wilhelmina were the first passenger ships to place their engines aft . among the noted white ships of matson were malolo rechristened matsonia lurline mariposa and monterey . with the advent and expansion of routine air travel between the mainland and the islands matson s passenger service was greatly diminished and the liners were eventually retired from trans pacific service and virtually gone by the end of the 1970s . 6 references edit company profile matson inc. . businessweek . retrieved 14 march 2013 . matson hawaiian shipping spin off offers good prospects . seeking alpha . retrieved 7 march 2013 . matson s history . matson navigation company . alexander & baldwin to split into 2 publicly traded companies honolulu star advertiser schwing emily 5 june 2015 . with matson acquisition final horizon lines no longer exists . ktoo . juneau united states . retrieved 5 june 2015 . history of the matson fleet . matson navigation company . further reading edit cushing john e 1951 . captain william matson 1849 1917 from handy boy to shipowner . new york newcomen society in north america . oclc 654333478 . o brien duncan 2008 . the white ships matson line to hawaii new zealand australia via samoa fiji 1927 1978 . pier 19 media . isbn 978 0 968 67341 6 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to matson inc. . official website the last ocean liners of matson lines the ocean linear virtual museum matson lines v t e united states flag shipping companies ship operators apl farrell lines hapag lloyd usa intermarine maersk line limited matson inc. overseas shipholding group sealift transatlantic lines waterman steamship corporation tug and barge operators bouchard transportation crowley maritime foss maritime kirby trailer bridge v t e dow jones transportation average components alaska air group american airlines group avis budget group c. h. robinson csx delta air lines expeditors international fedex j. b. hunt jetblue airways kansas city southern kirby landstar system matson norfolk southern ryder southwest airlines union pacific united continental holdings united parcel service retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title matson inc. & oldid 743457207 categories 1882 establishments in hawaiibusiness in hawaiicontainer shipping companiescompanies based in honolulucompanies based in oakland californiacompanies established in 1882companies in the dow jones transportation averagecompanies listed on the new york stock exchangecontainer shipping companies of the united statesferry companies of hawaiishipping companies of the united stateshidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history 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