Keel laid for Matson's newest LNG-powered container vessel

Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania has laid the keel of a new container vessel ordered by shipping company Matson.

The ship will be the first in a series of three container vessels that Hanwha Philly is building for Matson. Deliveries of all three ships are scheduled to take place between 2027 and 2028.

Matson plans to deploy the new vessels on its Hawaii, Guam, and China-Long Beach express services.

During the keel-laying ceremony on Monday, August 4, the first engine room section of the vessel — weighing 420 tonnes — was lowered into the dry dock, marking the official start of hull assembly.

"These new vessels will expand Matson's Jones Act fleet and enhance our service capabilities in the Asia-US trade lane, while providing additional capacity and speed benefitting customers of our Hawaii and Guam services,” said Matt Cox, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Matson.

The completed ship will have a length of 854 feet (260 metres), a capacity of 3,600 TEUs, and dual-fuel propulsion that can also run on LNG. The propulsion system will deliver speeds in excess of 23 knots.