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Hawaiian shipping company Matson Navigation Co. has announced it plans to maintain its fuel surcharge at current levels, rather than follow the lead of one of its rivals and raise the surcharge due to soaring bunker prices.

The ocean shipper has decided this week to keep its fuel surcharge at its current rate of 33.75 percent, despite the fact that rival Horizon Lines Inc. announced earlier this month that it planned to raise its fuel surcharge by 1.5 percentage points to 35.35 percent on ocean shipments between Hawaii and Guam.

Horizon Lines attributed the increase to "continued high and unprecendented levels of the cost of fuel."

"At this time, Horizon Lines sees no immediate relief in sight, as fuel costs are forecasted to remain either at this level or continue to escalate through midyear," the company said in a statement on 9th May.

In an effort to reduce costs, Matson has implemented an initiative to reduce the fuel consumption of its fleet of vessels. The company has reduced the speed of its container ships and removed one vessel from its Hawaii service in order to meet current market conditions.

Last month, Horizon Lines followed Matson's lead by increasing its fuel surcharge by 2.25 percent to 33.75 percent for shiipments between Hawaii, Guam and Micronesia. This was the eighth time in a row that both shipping firms had raised their fuel surcharge since January 2007.

A spokesperson for Matson said the company has not ruled out raising its fuel surcharge in the near future.

Both Matson and Horizon Lines have indicated that they would continue to monitor fuel costs closely and adjust the fuel surcharge according to future market trends.