Danish shipbrokers Parham Zamani and Jesper Espensen felt it was time to do their own thing last year.
The pair took a leap from Danish shop Maersk Broker to launch OceanExl in Dubai. Both are still under 25 years old.
OceanExl does not see itself as a traditional shop, but is built on three main pillars: shipbroking, advisory services and intelligence.
It will position itself as a tech company first and foremost, providing services and solutions that are fully driven by machine learning, data and IT products.
"When we imagine how the future of shipbroking and maritime advisory will look, it is clear to us that what the industry needs is transparency and a centralised hub for data and intelligence sharing," Zamani told TradeWinds.
For this reason, the firm has invested heavily in its tech offering and officially launched its data platform OceanEXL Intelligence last month.
The platform brings together price benchmarks, statistics, risk management software, analytics, financial indices and a valuation module. Access to the platform is free, but more advanced functionalities require a paid subscription.
Zamani described OceanExl's offering as a "full circle" service, from finding acquisition candidates for prospective vessel buyers, to identifying finance options and chartering. The in-house tech platform allows clients to monitor their asset.
OceanEXL's client book already comprises financiers, shipowners, charterers and other brokers, he said.
"We just realised, me and Parham, that we had the same ideas. We like shipping, but we also had an idea that some things could be done differently," Espensen told TradeWinds.
The only way they could see to make a change was to start up on their own. But what do they want to change?
"The number one thing is probably the way shipbroking provides a service," Espensen replied.
"It's always been the traditional middleman — and that's fine, in some cases.
"We both like to get very into the stuff that we're working with, so we would like to be providing a service that is more like an advisor — supporting clients with everything from finding finance to structuring long and short-term employment projects."
The pair also feels strongly that there is a need for cultural change.
"We would like to create a company that is run on vision and passion, rather than a company that's run on hierarchy and monthly pay cheques," Espensen said.
Zamani added: "One of the main reasons that we moved to Dubai and started our company is because we see a huge untapped potential in this region.
"Basically, we see by the day that new players are popping up and wanting to have a piece of what's going on right now."
People in the region also seem to have a higher appetite for risk, he said.
"Many clients here wish to see some kind of global business hub being made in Dubai, and that is also why a lot of investors within this region provide a lot of capital to the risk-willing buyers. But also a lot of capital coming from the US and UK ends up in this region," he explained.
This more liberal attitude to risk in Dubai has levelled the playing field, according to Zamani, and there is less reliance on exclusive brokers for handling deals.
"We see a lot of investors in the US and the UK who are interested in buying basically entire fleets of vessels, long-term time charter projects, where they can have a stable cash flow right now, but have an asset in two or three years, where the market potentially could have turned for the better," he said.
OceanEXL plans to expand into more segments and hire specialist brokers and consultants from March.
"We will also in-source software developers to intensify the work towards our tech products and our machine learning model called Quandary," Zamani said.
"Quandary will be an integral part of OceanEXL and our long-term business strategy."
The two men have strong ideas about the community and company culture they want to create.
"We want our colleagues, the people who are going to be a part of this, to work towards a vision, and we are encouraging everyone within our company to be bold, to think freely and outside the box," Zamani said.
"If they have a good idea, then they should go for it."
Parham Zamani grew up in Denmark but has Iranian heritage. He speaks Farsi and has clients in the Middle East and Europe.
He dropped out of university, where he had been studying economics, to join Maersk Broker in September 2019 because "it just sounded interesting". The chance to work with different people from around the world also appealed.
While at Maersk Broker, he met Jesper Espensen. The pair worked for the Copenhagen-based company for around two years before leaving to start their own venture.
Espensen focuses on chemical tankers and tankers at OceanExl, mainly undertaking sale and purchase, as well as some period chartering. Zamani handles S&P of container ships for clients.
The pair did not disclose the identity of OceanExl's backers. Neither has any family connections in shipping. ("My parents were farmers," Espensen said.)
