Matson Navigation Company, Inc.

Matson Navigation Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., provides commercial ocean liner and intermodal distribution services to the federal government as a prime contractor on multiple indefinite delivery contracts and fixed-price delivery orders under full-and-open competition, with 781 awards totaling $6.68 billion in combined potential value across 30 customer agencies. Matson is a for-profit maritime transportation and logistics provider headquartered in Oakland, California, competing without set-aside designations and operating a substantial fleet of containerships, combination container and roll-on/roll-off vessels, and custom-designed barges that support global military deployment, sustainment, and redeployment operations.

Matson's federal work concentrates on two core capability areas: consolidated ocean transportation shipments under fixed-price contracts with economic price adjustment, and Navy Ready Reserve Force vessel management services spanning repairs, maintenance, fuel provisions, operations support, and emergency drydocking. Representative prime awards include delivery orders under the Universal Services Contract 10 (USC-10), a $4 billion multiple-award IDIQ with the Air Force administered through United States Transportation Command, where Matson received orders ranging from $3.49 million to $8.45 million for consolidated shipments; delivery orders under the Navy's RRF Ship Management Services 2016-2024 contract, where Matson manages three vessels—the Cape Henry, Cape Horn, and Cape Hudson—under cost-no-fee pricing for operations, repairs, drydocking, and fuel services; and consolidated transportation delivery orders from the Army's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command under the Ocean and Intermodal Cargo Transport 2019 IDIQ, valued at $1.45 billion across 112 awards and representing Matson's largest single customer relationship by dollar volume. A September 2025 Army Pacific Command purchase order for vessel tow services from Darwin, Australia to Yokohama, Japan for $2.13 million demonstrates Matson's responsive capacity for urgent maritime logistics. Matson also holds a newly awarded ten-year Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) Contingency Services contract with the Air Force effective October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2034, with no set-aside designation and zero-dollar ceiling at the IDV level, committing vessel capacity for worldwide Department of Defense contingency operations.

Customer concentration is driven by defense logistics requirements. The top five customer agencies by award count account for 76 percent of recent awards and include the Navy Secretary (188 awards, $368.9 million), the Office of the Secretary of Defense (152 awards, $147.4 million), the Army's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (112 awards, $1.45 billion), the Maritime Administration (104 awards, $57.8 million), and the Navy (34 awards). By potential value, the concentration shifts toward the Air Force, which anchors $4.08 billion across 17 awards, reflecting USC-10 and VISA contract vehicles; the Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command at $1.45 billion; and Air Mobility Command at $509.2 million across 31 awards. The Navy Secretary's 188 awards, though numerous, total only $368.9 million because the RRF Ship Management Services vehicle consists of many smaller, frequent delivery orders for routine vessel maintenance and operations.

Matson's parent vehicle footprint centers on the RRF Ship Management Services 2016-2024 IDIQ, under which 266 task orders worth $273.9 million have been placed for Navy vessel management; the Ocean and Intermodal Cargo Transport 2019 IDIQ with 61 task orders worth $371.2 million, primarily issued by Air Mobility Command and the Army; and the newly awarded USC-10 replacement contract with the Air Force. Historical vehicles in the active portfolio include the CONUS Intermodel Ocean Liner Services 2010-2014 (49 task orders, $32 million), USTRANSCOM USC-7 International Surface Transportation (46 task orders, $62.6 million), and USTRANSCOM Sealift Cargo Transportation 2011-2014 (45 task orders, $33.7 million). Matson competes exclusively on full-and-open vehicles with no set-aside categories across its federal portfolio.

Activity has declined in recent years. Awards per year fell from 36 in 2022 to 38 in 2023, then to 26 in 2024 and 20 in 2025, with only 2 awards recorded through February 2026. Only one award faces completion within the next twenty-four months, carrying $38 thousand in combined potential value, indicating minimal recompete exposure in the near term. The bulk of Matson's portfolio consists of long-standing, frequently reordered vehicles under which delivery orders flow continuously, masking underlying contract-vehicle recompete dates that do not appear in the source's near-term cliff analysis.

Matson holds three sub-award positions on contracts with Serco Inc. (Space Fence Radar Operations and Level 1 Maintenance Service, awarded February 2025, and a service sub-award awarded November 2024) and Vectrus Systems LLC (Life Support Area services, awarded January 2025). These sub positions are minimal relative to Matson's prime footprint and represent tactical adds to broader logistics support contracts.

The source's category concentration confirms Matson's narrow focus: 681 of 778 prime awards (87 percent) fall under NAICS 488411 (Deep Sea Freight Transportation), and 380 of 778 prime awards (49 percent) carry PSC Transportation/Vessel Freight designation, with an additional 267 awards (34 percent) under Operation of Other Non-Building Facilities covering vessel management and repair facilities. This specialization—combined with Matson's limited subcontracting footprint, exclusive full-and-open posture, and concentration on two primary customer agencies (the Army and the Navy) driving 72 percent of annual award volume—positions Matson as a dedicated maritime sealift and vessel operations provider with minimal diversification into other federal IT, logistics, or professional services markets.