About 200 unionized crew members who work aboard Matson Navigation Co.'s trans-Pacific cargo ships have reached a tentative contract agreement with the company.

The five-year contract covers members of three separate unions: the Sailors Union of the Pacific; the Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Association; and the Seafarers International Union — Marine Cooks, according to Matson spokesman Jeff Hull.

The agreement was reached Monday night, the day the previous contract was set to expire. Union members will hold a ratification vote over the next several weeks.

The Sailors Union of the Pacific had voted on June 16 to authorize its union leadership to call a strike, a move intended to give the workers leverage in their contract negotiations with the company.

Neither Hull nor union attorney Charles Khim would reveal specifics of the contract.

Matson is the state's largest shipping company, controlling about two-thirds of the market for ocean freight to Hawai'i.

About 80 percent of all goods sold in Hawai'i come via ship.

Separately, 500 members of the Inland Boatmen's Union who work for Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug and Barge have ratified a three-year contract agreement, Khim said.