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E-Commerce total cost of the effort was astronomical. Whether any of the developers who have announced online chartering and S&P have the stomach or deep pockets for even a scaled back effort of this type is not clear. Perhaps the question to be asked about on-line chartering and S&P is not "how do we do it'?", but rather "why are we trying to do it?" The case for on-line chartering and S&P is not strong; the people involved in day to day chartering and S&P are not struggling to keep up with the work load, nor are they being inundated by more data each day than they can possibly process. While they are certainly being helped by modern communications systems and helpful software to do the job that they do best, it is hard to see how an expensive and time-consuming development process will either help them substantially or, as some have suggested, replace them. If the people involved in chartering and S&P are not calling for on-line help, who is doing it for them? The answer, of course, is to look to the vendors, the people who sell hardware and software and consulting services. They have solutions to sell and they are very adept at identifying problems, sometimes pre- viously unrecognized, for which they can sell solutions. There is a long history of high-tech solutions that have been advertised as the ultimate answer, and "on-line" is the latest in the series. There were innovations, such as lin- ear programming; robotics; artificial intelligence; and many others too numerous to mention. Each of these was hailed at first, and then discarded and finally left to assume its proper place as a useful but not universal tool — so it will be with "online." The preceding was authored by Sydney P. Levine, president. Shipping Intelli- gence, Inc., New York, N.Y. MaritimeDirect Strengthens Its E-Commerce Team MaritimeDirect. an online information and e-commerce marketplace for the maritime shipping industry, has added new executives to its e-commerce team and expanded its global presence, sup- plementing its existing New York and Tokyo offices with a new office in Hong Kong. Martin Taylor joins MaitimeDirect as the director of e-commerce with responsibilities for the strategic direc- tion of the company's e-procurement system as well as manager of the new Hong Kong office. Most recently. Taylor led the global sales and marketing effort to promote Arena's e-commerce marine procurement sys- tem to ship owners, managers and strategic partners. The company also appointed Doug Kowalchuk as vice president of e-com- merce and operations, bringing more than 15 years of e-commerce, supply- chain management and logistics experi- ence to MaritimeDirect. Prior to joining the company, Kowalchuk was senior vice president, logistics for WorldSpy Corporation, an e-commerce micro-portal, and vice president, logistics for Copera, a provider of warehouse operations man- agement services for e-commerce mar- ketplaces. Robert Peterson, who has significant e-commerce experience, also joins the MaritimeDirect team in New York, to work with Kowalchuk, in e-commerce and operations. Why Pafeit and hsulate? Seal, hsulate and Protect ail with Delta T Marine Insulating Coating Replaces thermal insulation! • A 40 mil layer achieves an R11-R15 (actor! • Non toxic and contains no harmful VOCs! • usee, Uoyds, ABS and DNV Approved • Cost Effective! Mascoat Products Houston, TX www.deltacoat.com Ph: (713) 688-9099 Fax: (713) 688-9169 Sales@deltacoat.com Circle 278 on Reader Service Card ** If you're not getting the maritime industry's best weekly newspaper, you may be the last to know! Call 1 -212-477-6700 for subscription information ALUMINUM COMPANY Your Complete Marine Product Supplier For: Gangways, Accommodation, Inclined, Vertical and Slide Ladders, Treads, Grating, Battens, Replacement Parts and More. MHlenniiim-2000 Capstans • • • Advanced Designs • • • 154 models, '/2 to 30 HP, 950# to 12,050# running loads For Details and/or our Distributor contact us at: FAX(715) 394-6199, Toll free: (888) 511-7922, ph (715) 394-4444 Barge Moving am tttta Train Car Pulling Mooring, Anchor & Rope Handling the Future • Superior-Lidgerwood-Mundy Corp. 1101 John Ave. P.O. Box 39 Superior, WI 54880 Circle 316 on Reader Service Card 16 Circle 330 on Reader Service Card Circle 337 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
