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I have messaged with brokers, shipowners and even a couple of high profile owners of chartering platforms - and we have had a very open discussion about where we are at in this space. I am very appreciative to all. Its amazing how many great people we have in our Industry. Its equality encouraging how people are very happy to offer opinions if the subject is broached in the right way.
Part of the reason I run this blog is to connect with people in the industry and have frank conversation about whats really going on.
As one broker friend of the blog put it yesterday
"Your incisive, frank and, oftentimes, cynical (not a dirty word in my book!) observations are a breath of fresh air' - thank you....that is the intention.
Anyway back to the great people in this industry and the furious debate as to what the future holds for shipbrokers.
Indeed one owner of a platform agreed that problem is uptake, and another agreed saying that very few of the market offerings had the ability to scale up. Interestingly this same entrepreneur believed that the only one with any chance to find the holy grail is actually one of us! (and the biggest one at that).
Begs the question.....Should we, the wider broking fraternity be less scared of shadowy upstarts and petrified of the 'Ally' in front of us?
Public companies, by there very nature, become slaves to 'shareholder value' where ever that may lead....
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I did have a great chance to hop on and surf a number of the platforms. Historically I have used a few of them for quite a long time.
Here is a list in no particular order - I've probably missed a few (including those run by charterers)
You should check them out
It goes without saying - there are some very impressive service offering amongst this lot. And I mean 'a lot' because as you can see the space is becoming quite crowded.
The technology definitely makes everyones work just that little bit easier and that little bit faster. Efficiency and speed....good mottos to live by. I also like the trade information, the efficient routing programs, live bunker updates etc etc
It does leave some obvious questions though...
If everyone is using this stuff where is the advantage? I think the new normal is keeping up rather than pulling away...and again there may be an argument that in an increasingly efficient market with big data maybe its just one side of the equation that needs this....Why do both sides need to be told the same thing?
Some simple freight trading observations. If you are a shipowner with a ship 'deemed' to be in the best position for a cargo is this good news or bad news? And vice versa is a charterer is stuck with no ships showing upon the radar (except one) is this good news or bad news - from a negotiation perspective?
The other interesting development is the auction system being pushed around by some heavy weight charterers.
I have an interesting story to tell. I was actually part of one of the first cargo auctions of this type many moons ago. I think it was probably 2004. Not only was I part of the auction I won the auction on behalf of the shipowner I was working for at the time.
The cargo was small - maybe 10,000/5 pct.
The charterers went to great efforts to set up the auction and it was a reverse auction.....so the last bid won...the time limit was 30minutes.
So there we were - watching the screens and it was exciting. Interestingly thought the 10 or so shipowners/operators who took part actually kept bids very high...for the first 28 minutes that is....
Finally with seconds remaining I put in a knock out bid (compared to the others) and won the auction.
And we (as shipowners) were very happy because we got a much better price than we thought....
The auction worked....thats for sure...and not for the charterer. They stopped with the auction system soon after.
I wonder if auctions become the 'in thing' if shrewd shipowners in major markets will have an 'informal' understanding about turf and territory.....
You never know
Interesting times
VS
Shipbroker (most of the time!)
Shipbroker (most of the time!)
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