Matson and the unions representing ship captains and other crew members have agreed to continue contract talks today in San Francisco, averting for at least a day the threat of a shipping strike as contracts expired last night.

Matson's contracts with the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association and the American Radio Association expired at 9 o'clock last night Hawai'i time. But negotiations were extended into today after both sides made progress in negotiations, said Charles Khim, attorney for the unions.

However, Khim said last night, the expiration of the contract means the unions can still go on strike at any time. Union members voted this week to authorize a strike, a move intended to give the workers leverage in their negotiations.

Matson spokesman Jeff Hull confirmed last night that contract talks will resume at 7 a.m. today Hawai'i time.

"There was some progress in the talks and then they shook hands and agreed to reconvene," Hull said.

Matson, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc., is the state's largest trans-Pacific shipping company, carrying about two-thirds of the containerized freight to the Islands. Nearly 80 percent of all goods sold in Hawai'i arrive via container ship.

The International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association represent about 100 workers each, while the American Radio Association has slightly fewer members here. The expired contract did not cover Matson's competitors, Horizon Lines and Pasha Transport Lines LLC.

Under the previous deal, an MM&P captain earned an average $220,000, according to Matson. An MM&P chief mate earned about $176,000 a year, Matson said.

Contracts for the unions were last negotiated in 2001 and reopened in 2006.

Since 2003, Matson has acquired four new cargo container ships, said MM&P Vice President Don Marcus.

To pay for the ships, Matson asked union members working on the newer ships to take a pay cut to avoid outsourcing the MM&P jobs, Marcus said.

Marcus said union members want the pay restored for employees hired to work on the new ships.