Charles B. Mulholland, 65; former head of Matson Navigation Co.

Charles Bradley Mulholland III, 65, former president and chief executive of Matson Navigation Co., died Feb. 20 in Oakland from complications of cancer, the company announced.

A fourth-generation Californian known as C.B. or Brad, Mulholland was born May 24, 1941, in Los Angeles and grew up in Seal Beach. After graduating from USC in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he went to work at Matson’s Wilmington offices as an assistant booking clerk.

He rose through the ranks of the San Francisco-based shipping line and was promoted to head of the freight division in 1979 and president of the company’s terminal subsidiary in 1986.

He was named president of Matson in 1990, and two years later chief executive officer. By the time he retired in 2004 he was executive vice president of Alexander and Baldwin, Matson’s parent company based in Honolulu, and a director of both companies.

In 2005 he helped launch OceanBlue Express, a start-up company intended to compete against Matson for containerized freight and automobile transport in the Pacific, but it was not successful.