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Shipping firm Matson Navigation Co. has announced that it will be increasing its fuel surcharge for shipments between the US mainland and Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Micronesia, effective June 12th.

The company said that the surcharge rise was in response to a rise in bunker fuel prices.

Matson, Hawaii's largest ocean shipper, said that it will be raising its fuel charge by 4 percentage points, from 43.5 percent to a record high of 47.5 percent, for its Hawaii service.

Matson will also be upping its fuel surcharge for shipments to Guam and Micronesia by 4 percentage points from 45 percent to 49 percent.

Commenting on the hike, Matson Vice President Dave Hoppes said: "Since announcing our last increase on March 31st, fuel prices not only failed to stabilize, but continued to rise."

“Unfortunately, transportation companies are especially hard hit, with fuel consumption an unavoidable and significant component of operating costs. As with all increases, Matson gives our customers 30 days advance notice prior to implementation. As a result we are just now beginning to recover some of the extraordinary fuel related costs that necessitated our last increase. We will continue to monitor fuel prices and adjust the surcharge accordingly,” Hoppes added.

During a similar rise three years ago, the fuel surcharge reached 42.25 percent in August 2008 before a drop in oil prices led to a series of decreases in the surcharge later that year. That record was broken on May 1st 2011 when the surcharge climbed to 43.5 percent.

Please find below a surcharge summary for Matson's Hawaii service.

Feb. 4, 2008 - 31.5%
Apr 6, 2008 - 33.75%
Jul 13, 2008 - 38.25%
Aug. 31, 2008 - 42.25%
Sep. 21, 2008 - 37.50%
Oct. 12, 2008 - 33.0%
Oct. 19, 2008 - 27.0%
Nov. 2, 2008 - 25.0%
Nov. 16, 2008 - 19.5%
Nov. 30, 2008 - 15.0%
May 24, 2009 - 16.5%
Jun 21, 2009 - 20.0%
Jul 5, 2009 - 28.0%
Oct. 4, 2009 - 24.0%
Feb. 7, 2010 - 27.5%
Jul 18, 2010 - 25.5%
Sep. 12, 2010 - 21.75%
Feb. 27, 2011 - 26.5%
May 1, 2011 - 43.5%
Jun 12, 2011 - 47.5%