(June 3, 2004) -- Containers carrying live cattle -- "cowtainers" -- will now be arriving at the Port of LB, transporting animals shipped from Hawaii.

The Port of LB's monthly "TieLines" newsletter says "Matson Navigation has launched a new direct cargo service from Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii to Long Beach and Oakland" in which cattle will be loaded in new cowtainers for shipment aboard the roll-on, roll-off vessels Matsonia and Lurline.

"[W]e are in the process of developing newly designed cowtainers that will improve the quality of cattle carriage capabilities while concurrently reducing the cost of the equipment purchases," said Dave Hoppes, Matson VP of ocean services, quoted in a Matson company release.

"Matson is building the prototype for the industry’s review," the firm said its release.

The firm said Hawaiian cattle will no longer have to be shipped from neighbor islands to Honolulu on barges and then transshipped on Matson's long haul vessels that sail between Honolulu and the West Coast. The change will reduce transit time from eight to five days and the newly designed "cowtainers" will be constructed in the coming months, the company release said.

The new service may also provide some benefits for Hawaii agricultural products such as nursery stock, the firm said.