Marine Hawaii Grant awarded to Young Brothers
The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) is pleased to announce that Young Brothers LLC (YB) has received more than $200,000 in federal grant funds from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) America’s Marine Highway Program to purchase forklift scales. This is the first project funded by the MH-1 Daniel K. Akaka Marine Highway since it was designated in 2018.
This initiative is part of the Hawaii Commercial Harbors System Shipping Services Project which aims to improve safety and efficiency for YB inter-island cargo operations. Currently, YB’s customers are responsible for reporting load weights when checking in cargo, contributing to traffic congestion leading out from YB gates at the HDOT’s commercial harbors. The new scales will provide YB machine operators with real-time weight information when prepping cargo at the port for shipment.
“Hawaii’s marine highway is the result of years of work and partnership between HDOT Harbors Division and harbor users, and we congratulate Young Brothers on leading this important first step in this program,” said HDOT Director Jade Butay. “This grant will help Young Brothers streamline its operations, and these improvements in inter-island shipping benefit all the people of Hawaii.”
“This grant represents a critical and necessary funding mechanism to assist in the modernization of our equipment at all our island ports, enabling our highly skilled employees to more safely and efficiently move cargo around the island ports and load the barge,” added Jay Ana, President of Young Brothers. “We thank the Hawai‘i State Department of Transportation and our federal congressional delegation for their support in securing this funding, which plays a vital role in how we continue to evolve to best serve our customers.” America’s Marine Highways program provides federal resources and invests in port and landside infrastructure that expand the use of the nation’s navigable waters to promote ocean surface transportation and increase operational efficiency in moving cargo. Hawaii was one of eleven states receiving a total of $12.6 million in grants from the America’s Marine Highways Program in this latest funding announcement.
