Matson Navigation Co. yesterday announced it has put a renovated MV Mokihana vessel back into service in Hawai'i with a new vehicle garage that allows the container ship to carry 1,200 cars and trucks.

The new design increases Matson's roll-on, roll-off capacity by 120 percent, according to Dave Hoppes, senior vice president of ocean services, he said.

The fleet improvement is part of a multi-phase program that began in 2003 to provide more frequent service and roll-on, roll-off capacity.

Hoppes said Matson also has invested in an above-deck garage for the S.S. Lurline, installed shoreside facility improvements and developed a new information technology for auto shipments.

"Matson's Mokihana is one of the largest vessels in our fleet and is diesel-powered, making it more fuel-efficient," Hoppes said.

"With the addition of garage capacity, the combination vessel will provide the fastest and most economical method of shipping vehicles."

He said the garage features a fully enclosed garage, ventilation, lighting and various safety components to minimize damage in transit. The Mokihana is capable of carrying a wide variety of autos and rolling cargo, including large trailers and oversized vehicles and will complement Matson's other two combination ro-ro and container vessels, the Lurline and Matsonia.

Matson introduced ro-ro service to Hawai'i in 1973 and is the state's leading carrier for both containers and automobiles, he said.

Matson has multi-year agreements with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. for the carriage of their vehicles to and from Hawai'i, Hoppes said.

And he said Matson has multi-year agreements with Dollar Thrifty Group, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota and Nissan.

Matson provides ocean transportation, intermodal and logistics services and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. of Honolulu.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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