Digital disrupters in every sector of shipping are taking advantage of the inability of maritime folk to meet and do business.
Among the latest ventures is Unafix, a Dutch procurement portal for shipping agents, lawyers and surveyors, which has just completed its first transaction with Holwerda Shipmanagement.
Another dedicated to the shiprepair sector, Trusteddocks, has completed a capital-raising project, which led to Zeaborn Ship Management joining as a shareholder alongside Germany’s MPC Capital. It leaves the Hamburg-based portal with a portfolio of about 200 ships and 10 paying shipyards.
In the finance sector, crowdfunding venture New Shore Invest opted to press ahead this month with its first effort to raise funds to build a ship in China.
Some observers believe that despite coronavirus — or maybe because of it — there has never been a better time to establish a maritime start-up.
Best timing?
“It’s the best time,” said Alexander Teichmann, managing director of Trusteddocks, which is seeking to disrupt the traditional way that owners hook up with repair yards.
“Covid is pushing [business] towards us. You cannot go out. Shipyards cannot visit you. So you have to reach out in a different way.”
He pointed to the inability of shipyards to drum up business at trade fairs such as the German ship technology event SMM, which has been postponed until next February. Therefore, shipyards may now need to look online for clients.
Unafix founder Jeroen Wolthuis said the pandemic prompted him to bring forward the launch date for his services procurement portal, as he expects freight rates to fall and shipowners to look for ways cut costs.
“We want to be available for shipowners, who we know are going to be facing hard times, as soon as possible,” he said.
New Shore managing director Hanno Tamminga conceded that the crisis had led to discussions as to whether its finance-raising scheme should go ahead.
But it is proceeding with a crowdfunding project to raise €3.13m ($3.4m) to help finance a fifth multipurpose ship ordered by Rhenus-Arkon-Shipinvest for €8.63m at Dayang Offshore Equipment Co.
Tamminga is happy with the decision to press on with the capital-raising venture after a V-shaped recovery in stock markets.
“The same goes for crowdfunding in Germany,” he said. “Volumes didn’t decrease at all. People still seem to have money and still invest money. Looking at the first few days, it seems to have been the right decision.”
But start-up ventures are known for a notoriously high failure rate, and the financial viability of the latest batch of projects remains to be seen.
Initially, their focus is on drumming up volumes.
Unafix will offer its service free for users looking to procure services. It will charge commission to service providers, but only when an assignment has been completed.
Highly conservative
Trusteddocks will rely on a subscription-based model for yards and owners. It is also launching an index that tracks the number of vessels entering and leaving shiprepair docks. “This shows very clearly now in these Covid times a decrease in [shiprepair] activities,” Teichmann said.
The greatest hurdle for the new wave of disrupters may come from an industry that is notoriously conservative and reluctant to change.
“At the moment, we have no competition, because there is no interest in this whole industry to make it transparent,” Teichmann said. “Maybe that’s our biggest challenge.”
