Young Brothers Ltd., the state's largest interisland barge company, announced yesterday that it plans to increase its fuel surcharge to 2.78 percent from 1.29 percent beginning today because of rising fuel costs.

The higher fuel surcharge is necessary because fuel costs have increased nearly 22 percent since August, according to Young Brothers' president Glenn Hong.

"We are continuing to streamline our operations for efficiency, but do need to acknowledge these hefty fuel cost increases," Hong said.

For consumers, the latest fuel price adjustment adds about 1 cent to the cost of shipping a 24-package case of saimin and about 1 cent to the cost of shipping a case of 24 cans of juice or soda.

It will be Young Brothers' second fuel surcharge increase since the Public Utilities Commission approved the implementation of a fuel price adjustment clause for the company in October 2007.

This fuel surcharge is re-examined quarterly and may be adjusted up or down, or remain the same, depending on fuel costs over the prior time period, Hong said. Because fuel prices are rising and Young Brothers' fuel price adjustment is based on fuel prices in the preceding quarter, Young Brothers' full recovery of its increased fuel costs still lags behind, he said.