Matson's earnings have surged almost 2,200% off a high-speed transpacific boxship service between the US and China.

The Matt Cox-led owner of 13 small containerships and a car carrier posted an $87.2m profit for the first quarter, up from $3.8m a year ago.

The Jones Act-focused shipowner's earnings per share came in at $1.99, beating analyst consensus of $1.63 and blowing away year-ago EPS of $0.09.