Today marks a new chapter for Matson skipper John Bloomingdale as he embarks on his latest assignment in his 25-year journey with Hawaii’s largest shipping company.
He will be helming Matson’s new $250-million Lurline when the vessel departs Honolulu Harbor on the 2,400-mile passage to Oakland, Calif. It is the first leg in a 14-day journey that will continue on to Long Beach before returning to Honolulu.
Bloomingdale will be captaining the Lurline for the first time.
“It’s my greatest achievement,” he said.
Bloomingdale shared his accomplishment Saturday during a media tour of the Lurline, the newest vessel in Matson’s nearly $1 billion-fleet renewal project. The ship is the third of four vessels being built for the company, which ships in two-thirds of the state’s cargo containers. The new vessels will improve the reliability of Matson’s delivery service for island consumers, said Matson CEO and Chairman Matt Cox.
Built in San Diego, the Lurline is the largest ship that is a combination of a container ship and roll-on, roll-off ship, or ro/ro, ever built in the U.S. The vessel was part of a two-vessel package ordered by Matson at a cost of $500 million.
Her twin, Matsonia, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The other two vessels were built in Philadelphia.
While she is the sixth vessel named Lurline in Matson’s nearly 140-year history, this Lurline breaks new ground, including with her engine. The main engine is the first of its design, with serial No. 1, built by the German company Man B&W.
The six-cylinder engine has pistons with a 10-foot stroke that turn the vessel’s propeller. The engine can also run on different types of fuel with the possibility of using liquefied natural gas, a cleaner and more economical source of energy compared to fuel oil. Currently, there isn’t an LNG supplier available for Matson to use.
Cox said more stringent fuel requirements set by the International Maritime Organization took effect Jan. 1, lowering a cap on sulfur in marine fuel from 3.5% to 0.5% to reduce pollution. Lurline’s four engines use a low-sulfur fuel oil, which has 0.5% sulfur, and also marine gas oil — a type of diesel with only 0.1% sulfur — when it is close to shore. Matson’s other ships have been modified to meet the new fuel requirements.
Cox said reducing sulfur in fuel can help curtail respiratory disease deaths linked to pollution.
He said over the past year and a half, the company has retired five steam-powered ships to make way for the new additions to the company’s fleet, which will shrink from 10 to nine because of the new vessels’ larger size and greater speed.
“It’s an exciting time for Matson,” Cox said. “They’re just beautiful ships.”
The new vessels are more fuel efficient, he added, and expected to last 40 years with room for growth built in, despite cargo shipping volume plateauing for the last three to four years.
The 870-foot Lurline can carry about 3,500 20-foot containers and has an enclosed garage for about 500 vehicles. It stands more than 200 feet tall, from keel to mast, with a deep draft about the size of a four-story building at 38 feet. Its top speed is about 26 mph.
Lurline is Matson’s first ship with its own ramp, which can be lowered at ports that don’t have attachable ramps. With a maximum load of 100 tons, the ramp can support an M1 Abrams tank that comes in around 60 tons. The ship’s ramp can be lowered in about 15 minutes, roughly half the time it takes to attach a ramp to a ship, and can be done with 70% fewer personnel, said Paul Schulman, another captain of Lurline.
With a large area for oversized cargo, the ship can also carry tractor trailers, train cars, buses, and other cargo that doesn’t fit in containers.
Also on the ship are rooms with a view and a shower for each of the 24 crew members and an elevator that stops at nine of the ship’s roughly one dozen floors.
Bloomingdale said that he had been waiting to captain the ship for about a year and a half, which was how long ago that he learned he would be one of the vessel’s two captains.
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