Haiwaii's Young Brothers has said it needs $25m in state funds to keep it in business.
The container barge line has written to the state asking for the cash to provide relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Company president Jay Ana described the company’s financial situation as "extremely dire" in a letter to the US state's Public Utilities Commission, Hawaii Governor David Ige, legislative leaders, four county mayors and state agency executives.
The outfit, which dates back 120 years and is the islands' only inter-island cargo company with seven vessels, has suffered a 30% drop in cargo during the crisis.
Young Brothers, which employs 370 workers, said it has lost nearly $8m to the end of April, and anticipates mounting losses totalling $25m by the end of the year.
Ige responded by saying the request will be considered as part of the state’s "recovery and resiliency efforts".
Parent turns off cash tap
The firm’s parent company, Seattle-based Saltchuk, was due to stop injecting money from 31 May.
The outfit, which also controls ship operators TOTE and Tropical Shipping, has contributed $21m to operating losses over the last two years.
"They are not in a position to continue covering the staggering Covid losses and have told us that we must now find other solutions," Ana said. "We know they have deep aloha for Young Brothers — and for Hawaii — and we are grateful to them for carrying us through the challenging times.
"But we must now find a cooperative solution with the state that allows YB [Young Brothers] to continue to operate."
Ana added that the $25m would be enough to see it through to December.
"Young Brothers expects that, absent immediate relief from the state, it will soon be unable to pay its expenses or continue operations,” Ana said in the letter.
'Heartbroken'
"I and my colleagues would be heartbroken if Young Brothers were forced to stop operating.
"We want to keep going and we’re confident we can weather this crisis, but we can only do it with help and support from the state and the commission."
Young Brothers has reduced sailing schedules for Maui and Hawaii counties, yielding $6m in savings.
The outfit has also implemented a hiring freeze and salary cuts for senior leadership.
"The mounting losses at Young Brothers are more than any parent company can absorb," Young Brothers chairman Jason Childs said.
"We’re in a shared crisis that is far from over and are losing more than $3m a month. This is not sustainable."
If unable to secure relief, the company has said it will be required to prioritise revenue-generating lines of service to sustain operations.
