E-chartering web based platforms between success and failure

ABSTRACT: For many years there is a debate in the shipping industry over the impact of e-chartering web platforms on small and medium chartering houses. Although a lot of efforts and money have been spent in developing such platforms, their impact was lower than anticipated and only few of them are still active. This paper will try to evaluate why such e-chartering systems failed and what would be main requirements for a successful e-chartering web platform. 1 HOW SHIPBROKING HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS Fixing ships was a very challenging task 30 years ago when, due to very limited communication possibilities, an owner with a ship looking for cargo in an area far away from his traditional market, could only see 20-30 possible cargoes from that area and he had to choose the best out of them, without knowing that in the market there were much more cargoes available and even better paying