Matson Navigation Company has announced a new direct service to Christmas Island (Kiritimati), in the Republic of Kiribati. The new service will deliver cargo originating from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific to Christmas Island every two months. The first voyage departing Honolulu will be the Samoana 106W on Sept. 25.
The new Christmas Island service is an extension of Matson’s South Pacific Express (SPX) service that connects the carrier’s north Pacific network serving Hawaii, Alaska and Guam from four ports on the U.S. West Coast and its New Zealand based network serving islands of the South Pacific.
With the addition of Christmas Island as a port of call, Matson continues to provide import and export shipping to and from the U.S. mainland and Hawaii to many of the most populous islands of Polynesia, including Samoa, American Samoa, Tahiti, the Cook Islands (Rarotonga and Aitutaki), Tonga (Nukualofa and Vava'u), Niue, New Zealand, and Fiji (Suva and Lautoka).
“This new service allows Matson to leverage its existing South Pacific Express service to offer market-leading service to a new destination," said Senior Vice President - Pacific Tuilaepa Vic Angoco. “Christmas Island is one of the most remote islands in the Pacific. Regular arrivals of Matson ships will help support the needs of this island community and their efforts to improve quality of life. Matson serves many similar small islands across the Pacific and we take seriously our role as a lifeline to these communities.”
For detailed schedule information, refer to the updated SPX Sailing Schedule posted online at:
https://www.matson.com/matnav/services/pdf/Matson_Schedule_SPX_2018.pdf
Matson has appointed Dojin Company Limited, a well-established container shipping agency, as its exclusive agent on Christmas Island. Dojin Company’s knowledgeable team will deliver the world-class customer service in Christmas Island for which Matson is known throughout the Pacific.