The first containership serving Hawaii from the mainland powered by liquefied natural gas completed its inaugural voyage to Hono­lulu on Thursday.

Pasha Hawaii’s new 774-foot MV George III docked in Honolulu Harbor at Pier 51, where more than 200 company employees gathered after a blessing ceremony to celebrate what represented the beginning of regular serv­ice between California and Hawaii.

The roughly $225 million ship is the first of two LNG- powered vessels that California-based Pasha is incorporating into its fleet serving Hawaii under a plan the company announced in 2016.

Originally, the George III and a planned sister ship, the Janet Marie, were expected to begin service in 2020 following construction in Texas by Keppel AmFELS. Pasha expects the Janet Marie to be completed later this year.

Pasha launched Hawaii service in 2005 with one ship designed to carry 2,500 vehicles driven onto the vessel. The company later added a second ship and then in 2015 acquired the Hawaii operations of Horizon Lines Inc. in a $141.5 million deal that included four Horizon ships that made Pasha a considerably bigger competitor to dominant Hawaii ocean cargo transportation firm Matson Inc.

Pasha’s newest ship is named after the late father of company President and CEO George Pasha IV.

“My father was the epitome of a true entrepreneur, whose aloha for the Islands guided him into building a company focused on serving the people of Hawaii,” Pasha’s CEO said in a statement. “He wanted to make a difference in the lives of those who call Hawaii home, by ensuring Hawaii’s businesses had what they needed to provide for their customers. Designing a ship in his name that would set the bar in environmental sustainability for future ship building was a must. Hawaii is a special place with natural resources that need to be protected. I think my father would be proud of what we were able to accomplish.”

Pasha has said that LNG, compared with conventional fuel oil burned to power containerships, provides environmental benefits that include reductions of sulphur oxides by up to 95%, particulate matter by nearly 100%, nitrogen oxides by up to 90%, and carbon dioxide up to 25% from engine exhaust emissions.

Matson has added four new ships to its Hawaii containership fleet between 2018 and 2020, and all four were built with engines that have been run on fuel oil but can be modified to run on LNG.

In June, German engine maker MAN Energy Solutions announced that Matson signed a contract to retrofit one, and possibly two, of its four newest ships to run on LNG.