A Seattle-based company offered to buy the cargo business of bankrupt Aloha Airlines, which carries mail for the U.S. Postal Service and other cargo for FedEx and UPS.

Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection last week, for the second time in a little more than three years. The passenger and cargo carrier plans an auction of all or part of its assets. On Thursday, Saltchuk Resources, whose holdings include Young Brothers/ Hawaiian Tug & Barge, offered to buy the firm's cargo business for $13 million.

"We believe our knowledge of Hawaii, coupled with our extensive air cargo operations experience, positions us well to help take Aloha to the next level," Tim Engle, president of Saltchuk, said in a statement.

"We want to employ as many of the current employees as possible, and to ensure the continuity of excellent service that Aloha Air Cargo's customers have enjoyed for over 20 years," Engle said. Approximately 300 of the company's 3,550 employees work in the cargo segment.

Saltchuk owns other ocean and air cargo, petroleum distribution and real estate investing businesses, including Northern Air Cargo, which is Alaska's largest all-cargo airline.

Aloha's cargo unit is its most profitable segment with annual earnings before taxes of $6 million, the company said in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The offer by Saltchuk is subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Aloha lost $81 million last year, primarily because of spiking fuel costs and participation in a fare war with a low-cost inter-island rival.

Aloha has a fleet of 27 airplanes, including five Boeing 737-200 aircrafts used for cargo as well as a dual-purpose Boeing 737-QC aircraft that converts for cargo use at night.

Aloha, handles 85 percent of Hawaii's non-mail inter-island cargo and has a contract with the U.S. Postal service to carry mail.