Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 15, 2000)

EARbook • E'COMMERCE

Site Name/Address www.tradiant.com

Purpose/Status

See related story, page 36 of this edition

Site Name/Address www.Transportation.com

Purpose

Customs brokering, insurance, price and delivery data

Status

Still in the developmental phase at press time, Transportation.com, is targeted at small to medium-sized shippers in particular, with services to be provided via the Web site include customs brokering, insurance, price and delivery data, analysis of systems and others. Transportation.com anticipates a sec- ond quarter launch and is testing the site. It is being funded by trucking company Yellow

Corp. and two venture capital firms, TL Ven- tures and EnerTech Capital Partners. The company recently named former U.S. trans- portation secretary Samuel Skinner as chair- man of the board.

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MTN, DSI Complete Internet

Cafe Installation

Maritime Telecommunications Net- work (MTN) has installed Carnival

Cruise Lines' first Internet Cafe on the

Carnival Triumph. The Internet Cafe unites Digital Seas International's (DSI)

Internet product with the latest in high- speed Internet satellite communications from MTN. Carnival's 14 other Fun

Ships are expected to have Internet

Cafes installed by the end of the year.

MTN allows for satellite delivery of the Internet for the cruise lines and the

U.S. Navy by providing ShipNet, an asymmetric Internet service, which delivers high-speed connectivity and cost-effective use of satellite space.

This technology is making MTN one of the largest Internet service providers (ISP) in the maritime industry. Dave

Kagan, president of ATC Teleports and

MTN said, "These new Internet Cafes are a really exciting development for the cruise line industry, and for MTN. Our cruise line customers can now deliver all the latest services and entertainment their guests are requesting and we are taking a leadership role in making it possible for Carnival."

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DCS: High Speed Data To

Service Fast-Evolving E-World

As the maritime world quickly embraces the technologies that offer seamless communications anytime, any- where, it will increasingly be the chal- lenge of communication service providers to ensure that the communica- tion pipeline is kept open and operating efficiently. Darby Corporate Solutions (DCS) Marine Data Division is a New

York-based systems integration firm, specializing in software development and networking technology. It offers

Smart-Line, its first in a family of marine data solutions and services developed to provide high-speed data connections to boats, yachts ships and cruise lines.

Smart-Line features: internet access on demand; multiple users; a secure environment; video conferencing; streaming media; and broadcast e-mail.

Smart-Line controls and manages the network and communication technolo- gies to provide a 64K high-speed data connection. In comparing its 64K ser- vice to slower modes, DCS notes that, for example, the time required to trans- fer one megabyte of information via a 2.4k line takes 83 min., 12 sec.; a 9.6k line 20 min, 48 sec.; and a 64k line 2 min., 24 sec. Depending on the mariner's cost per minute deal with a communications provider, and the annu- al amount of data moved from ship-to- shore and vice-versa, it is relatively sim- ple to calculate cost benefits of the DCS system.

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Shipowners Should Take

E-Commerce Seriously

Shipping accountant Moore Stephens has warned shipowners to take e-com- merce more seriously if they want to retain investor interest and commercial advantage. Philip Cowan, a partner in

Moore Stephens Corporate Finance, said shipowners need to make the effort to find out who is doing what in e-commerce, and why, and then make a judgment about whether or not they can save money by purchasing or deal- ing through the internet. Owners con- templating a public listing or bond issue should consider an e-commerce dimension, most easily obtained by taking a stake in a developing e-com- merce shipping portal, adds Cowan.

Most stock market-listed shipping companies are still suffering low share prices. But Moore Stephens says Nor- wegian shipping shares have held their value, and attributes this in part to the fact that Norwegian shipping compa- nies have been quick to ally themselves to fledgling dot.com businesses.

As yet, there is little to measure in terms of the performance of the various shipping portals, because few of the sites are actually functioning.

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