HORIZON LINES REACHES RESOLUTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD-KEEPING INCIDENT

News Release Horizon Lines, Inc. (Corporate Headquarters) January 27, 2012

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META content="text/html; charset=unicode" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19170"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV>
CHARLOTTE,
NC (January 27, 2012) - Horizon Lines, Inc. (OTCQB: HRZL) today
announced that its Horizon Lines, LLC operating subsidiary has entered into an
agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, under which the ocean cargo
carrier will plead guilty to two counts of providing federal authorities with
false vessel oil record-keeping entries on a containership in the U.S. West
Coast-Hawaii service.  
 
Under the agreement, which
is subject to court approval, the company will pay a fine of $1.0 million and
donate an additional $500,000 to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation for
environmental community service programs. The company also has agreed to be
placed on probation for three years and institute an environmental compliance
plan.
 
The charges stem from the
improper use of an oily water separator and related inappropriate record keeping
on the Horizon Enterprise, an American-flag containership that sails between
Tacoma, Oakland and Honolulu. Oily water separators are used to remove oil from
bilge or wastewater, so that the water can then be legally discharged into the
ocean.
 
The company responded
promptly and proactively to the discovery of these violations. As part of the
company's environmental review, Horizon Lines conducted a fleet-wide audit and
has cooperated fully with the Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and
other authorities involved. It also immediately implemented a compliance and
training program, which is being performed by an outside contractor. The program
augments the company's existing environmental policies for mitigating
operational impacts while at sea. Additionally, the company has established the
position of Environmental Compliance Director to lead Horizon's overall
environmental compliance programs. The position reports directly to the
company's Chief Compliance Officer and the Board of Directors.  
 
"Horizon Lines has always
endeavored to operate as a responsible environmental steward," said Stephen
Fraser, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We do not in any way minimize
the unauthorized actions by a few individuals that run contrary to the care and
training normally demonstrated by our vessel crews throughout the company. We
are making every effort to see that this does not happen again, as we continue
to provide service to our customers as an environmentally responsible American
corporation."  
 </DIV></BODY></HTML>