The ice cream parlor doesn’t have ice cream, the grocer is running dangerously low on fresh produce and Moloka‘i’s 7,000 residents are digging into their freezers after the barge didn’t come in for the third time in three weeks.
Young Brothers missed shipments on Monday and Thursday, two of the island’s crucial twice-weekly line of supplies from O‘ahu, along with another miss last month. The interisland shipping monopoly blamed weather and machinery for its absences, which also included missed shipments to Lānaʻi. Its barges carry everything from fresh produce and household goods to medical supplies and construction material to the island — and also then ship Molokaʻi’s goods to Honolulu.
Business owners, farmers and residents are becoming increasingly agitated by Young Brothers, especially in light of recent shipping cost increases and Gov. Josh Green’s signing of automatic annual price hikes. With the most recent cancellations, many are wondering what the shipping outfit is doing with all the extra money the state is allowing it to charge for its services.
Some have been forced to pay more than twice as much to ship by air, while others are rushing to nab what’s left on the shelves…