State commission approves rate increase for shipping company in Hawai‘i

The Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a 25.75% rate increase for the limited liability company, Young Brothers, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

In its approval, the commission cited the shipping company’s escalating financial instability and the overriding public interest in avoiding an abrupt loss of the regulated intra-island shipping services Young Brothers’ provides.

This rate increase replaces, rather than adds to, the temporary 18.1% rate increase granted earlier this year, which will sunset Dec. 31.

Young Brothers is an interisland freight handling and transportation company, serving individuals and businesses alike, to move goods by barge among the Hawaiian Islands. According to the company website, Young Brothers, or YB, is the only regularly scheduled common carrier authorized by the State of Hawai‘i to transport goods over water from one island to another.

The approved increase is expected to generate an additional $26.1 million in annual revenue, bringing YB’s total annual intrastate revenue to $127.4 million to address its financial issues, according to a news release from the Hawai‘i State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

YB offers service to the following ports: Nāwiliwili on Kauaʻi, Kahului on Maui, Kaunakakai on Molokaʻi, Kaumalapau on Lānaʻi, Honolulu on Oʻahu, and Hilo and Kawaihae on the Island of Hawai’i. Most routes are serviced at least twice a week by overnight sailings.

While it approved the rate increase, the commission denied YB’s request for a Water Carrier Inflationary Cost Index, a mechanism that would have permitted the company to automatically adjust its rates outside of a rate case before the body.

The commission is also imposing strict oversight conditions, including prohibiting rate increases for at least two years, as YB implements its business plan intended to regain financial stability, improve operational efficiencies and break the cycle of seeking urgent and substantial rate increase requests.