Matson Reveals Tacoma Plans

Matson US container carrier Matson Inc. has elected to use its joint venture partner SSA Terminals for stevedoring and terminal services at the Port of Tacoma from 2018 onward. Matson will start using the services of SSA Terminals in Tacoma when its existing agreement with APM Terminals (APMT) expires on December 31, 2017. APMT has served us well. It just makes more sense to work with our strategic partner at Tacoma as we do at all of our other terminals on the West Coast, said Ron Forest, senior vice president operations for Matson. We expect a seamless transition and no change in our Tacoma operations from a customer standpoint. APM Terminals Tacoma will likely cease to operate at the end of the year, APM Terminals said, seeing that Matson was the terminals main client. The 600,000 TEU annual throughput capacity facility was used primarily by the Matson Alaska Service, with twice-weekly sailings between Tacoma, Anchorage and Kodiak, and a weekly service between Tacoma and Dutch Harbor, handling approximately 190,000 TEUs in 2016.