I certainly don’t know, but i’ve heard that TOTE is really hurting financially. That certainly sounds possible given El Faro and El Yunkie, and putting two new super expensive ships into service. Maybe that is why they have put expansion into Hawaii on hold.
Saltchuk owns TOTE which owns Foss which owns Young Bros. which has most of the tugboat business in Hawaii. I think Saltchuk also owns a petroleum distribution business and a fleet of gas stations in Hawaii. Saltchuk owns trucking companies and air freight carriers, but I don’t know whether they are active in Hawaii.
It seems like TOTE should be one of the largest carriers in the Hawaii trade. It’s probably just a question of when, not if.
TOTE and Foss must be making money by the ship load on government contracts and super high utilization on the Puerto Rico run. That is going to continue for many years of rebuilding. TOTE will continue to grow when the time is right.