Three of Alaska’s key shipping companies are set to hike rates as fuel prices skyrocket amid the war with Iran.
Alaska Marine Lines, Matson and Tote Maritime are all increasing their fuel-related surcharges, starting this month.
Alaska Marine Lines ships freight to communities in Southeast Alaska, including Haines, Skagway and Juneau. The company said late last month that its surcharge will increase from 11% to 18.5%, starting in early April.
In an emailed statement, the company said the move reflects “continued escalation and volatility in fuel costs resulting from continued disruption to global energy markets.”
Some small businesses that rely heavily on freight services are already bracing for the change. Mike Healy owns the Skagway Brewing Company, one of the community’s only year-round restaurants.
“It will have a big impact, no doubt about it. The shipping on all of our goods will increase,” Healy said. “And not just those from AML. My suppliers of every type, all over the place, are notifying us that there will be increases due to shipping costs.”
Healy added that his business has seen a number of significant cost increases since 2020 – including from tariffs, more recently.
But that also happened during the pandemic. Around that time, the restaurant invested in a high-end printer so they could re-print menus when they change prices due to fluctuating costs. The restaurant will soon reprint its menus for the summer season, and Healy plans to factor the surcharge in.
For the individual diner, the increase likely wouldn’t be huge – maybe 10 cents for a hamburger, he said.
“If we don’t take into account that 10 cents for the thousands of hamburgers that will be sold this summer, then we’re missing out,” he added.
Higher fuel surcharges will affect other businesses too – including Haines Home Building, a local hardware store.
“Yes, it impacts us,” said owner Glenda Gilbert. “Yes, the prices have gone up or will have to go up more. And that’s based on oil prices.”
Jim Lampkins, of Haines’ Lutak Lumber, said he wasn’t surprised about the increase – rate hikes are typical when fuel prices increase. But he wasn’t overly concerned about what it would mean for the business’ bottom line.
Southeast isn’t the only region in Alaska that could see impacts. Matson, for instance, ships freight to Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Kodiak and Anchorage. The company is boosting its fuel-related surcharge from 20.5% to 26.5% percent for all Alaska customers, effective April 12.
Matson said in a statement that the move is the result of a “sudden and significant” increase in marine fuel prices that it expects will sustain as long as global oil supply constraints persist in the Middle East.
Tote, meanwhile, implemented a smaller increase, from 25-27%, in late March.
