The state's largest ocean cargo carrier, Matson Navigation Co., yesterday announced it is raising the fuel surcharge for its Hawai'i service by 4 percentage points, to 42.25 percent, to offset rising fuel costs.

The announcement follows a similar move by Matson's competitor, Horizon Lines LLC.

Matson also said it will increase the fuel surcharge for its Guam/CNMI and Micronesia service by four percentage points, from 39.75 to 43.75 percent.

Both increases are effective Aug. 31.

The latest increase in the fuel surcharge will add two-tenths of a cent to the cost of shipping a 12-ounce can of soda, said Matson spokesman Jeff Hull. Since Matson began implementing the fuel adjustments in 1999 the cost of shipping a can of soda has risen about 2 cents, he said.

For a 20-pound bag of rice, the latest increase will add a little more than 3 cents to its shipping cost. Over the life of the fuel adjustments the additional cost for shipping a bag of rice amounts to 34.5 cents, Hull said.

"While record high fuel prices are adversely impacting virtually all businesses, as well as consumers, transportation companies are particularly hard hit," said Dave Hoppes, Matson's senior vice president of ocean services.

"Fuel costs comprise a substantial component of Matson's operating costs and are an unavoidable expense for transporting goods, both on land and at sea. Since April 2008, Matson's fuel costs have risen 48 percent.

"While there have been some encouraging signs of some stabilization in the world oil market in recent weeks, the change in prices has not yet been reflected in bunker fuel," he added.

Hoppes said Matson continues to focus on operating the most fuel-efficient fleet possible and has taken a number of steps to reduce overall fuel consumption.

Hoppes said Matson has slowed the speed of its container ships without adversely affecting its schedule reliability; and temporarily removed one vessel from its Hawai'i service. In addition, he said, Matson operates its four newest diesel powered container ships in its Long Beach/Hawai'i/Guam service, using the most fuel-efficient vessels in its fleet.

Rising fuel costs have also pushed Hawai'i's No. 2 ocean cargo carrier, Horizon Lines LLC, to charge customers more for shipments to and from the Mainland just a month after its last fuel surcharge increase.

On July 18, Horizon announced it will raise its fuel surcharge by 4.5 percentage points to 42.75 percent, effective Aug. 17. The hike is Horizon's fourth this year. Collectively, they have added 14.25 percentage points to Horizon's fuel surcharge since January.