The company's roots to Hawaii started during WWII when the troops needed storage and truckaway services. To accommodate these needs, a station was set up in San Francisco to help the deployed troops. George W. Pasha, the founder, had a large amount of acquired knowledge about the automotive industry and started the company after seeing the demand for storage and transportation. His son George W. Pasha, III, realized the potential of the company and helped formed the company into what it is today. The company realized that there was a need for shipping goods from Hawaii to and from the Pacific Coast and began Pasha Hawaii in 1999. After creating the company they produced their first ship, M/V Jean Anne. The M/V Marjorie was added to the fleet in 2015 due to the high demand of more shipping between their routes. In 2015 the company also purchased competing shipping company Horizon Lines. Then later in 2018 the company announced the conversion to LNG with the building of two new ships.
Ships
The 579-foot Jean Anne was the first ship added to the fleet and it was commissioned in 2004. The Jean Anne is a ro-ro, which means that they carry specifically vehicles. These ships look and operate like giant garages. The $90 million ship was designed to carry 3,000 vehicles on each trip. Its ports of call are Honolulu, Kahului and Hilo. The 692-foot Marjorie C was the second ship to be added to the fleet, commissioned in 2015. The Marjorie C is a con-ro, which means the ship carries both vehicles and containers. The ship can carry 1,200 vehicles and 1,400 TEUs of containers. The ship's ports of call are Honolulu and Los Angeles, usually carrying 30 percent cars, 10 percent oversized items, and 60 percent containers. Pasha Hawaii now has 6 container ships operating on its routes and will be introducing two new all container ships that will join the fleet in 2020. The ship will be LNG-powered and will be able to carry 2,525 TEUs of containers. The new ship will operate on the same west coast to Hawaii trade lane. The manufacturer of the propulsion systems will be MAN Energy Solutions. These will be the first LNG-powered vessels to operate between Hawaii and the west coast. LNG is a system that burns fuel and natural gas to create propulsion. Most ships are now switching over to LNG-powered systems due to environmental regulations. The LNG system will make it easier for ship to ship transfers of fuel.