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Hawaii's leading ocean shipper, Matson Navigation Co. has announced that it is raising its fuel surcharge for the first time since August 2008, as a result of the recent rise in bunker prices.

Following a run of six consecutive surcharge cuts, the company said on Friday that it was increasing the fuel surcharge by 1.5 percentage points from 15 percent to 16.5 percent for its Hawaii service and from 16.5 percent to 18 percent for its Guam and Micronesia service.

"Fuel costs have stabilized significantly since the dramatic spikes the world experienced from 2005 through 2008," said Dave Hoppes, Matson's senior vice president, ocean services. "Unfortunately, recent trends have resulted in increases in fuel-related costs that have had an impact on Matson's operating costs and are an unavoidable expense for transporting goods."

The latest surcharge rates are due to come into effect on Sunday May 24th.

Last week main rival Horizon Lines Inc. posted a net loss of $10 million for the first quarter of 2009, citing a loss in revenue from reduced fuel surcharges. The company has not yet publicly commented on whether it will also raise its Hawaii surcharge, which currently stands at 15 percent.

Below is a summary of the fuel surcharges announced by Matson since January this year for its Hawaiiservice.

24/05/2009: 16.50%

30/11/2008: 15.00%

16/11/2008: 19.50 %

02/11/2008: 25.00 %

19/10/2008: 27.00 %

12/10/2008: 33.00 %

21/09/2008: 37.50 %

31/08/2008: 42.25 %

13/07/2008: 38.25 %

06/04/2008: 33.75 %

04/02/2008: 31.50 %