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August 8, 2000

Fairmont links with Pioneer on web

Matthew Flynn , Tokyo
ESTABLISHED Hong Kong shipowner Fairmont Ship-ping has teamed up with
former Wah Kwong shareholder Pioneer Global Group as founding partners of a maritime website.
The Hong Kong-based iShipExchange is also backed by a host of maritime
companies mostly based in Asia.
An initial procurement function of the system, ShipExQuote, has gone live and
the group is readying to add a fuller procurement function, ShipExProcure,
plus three functions of information, communication and chartering in the near
future.
Linda Ho McAfee, one of the founding partners, told Lloyd's List: "Our first
product, ShipExQuote, which is part of a total web-based procurement
solution, is now live on the internet and is being tried by a select group of
buyers and suppliers in Asia.," Ms Ho McAfee, who is part of Fairmont Shipping
in Hong Kong, said that iShipExchange members decided to keep a low profile
on the project until the site had started operation.
Lloyd's List was alerted to the project through a prominent advertisement
recruiting staff in the local classifieds.
Ms Ho McAfee said: "There are so many announcements about internet
shipping sites being launched, but they have not gone live yet.
"We decided to take a different approach and avoid the unnecessary hype
about a launch.
"The procurement section is already functioning successfully, but we have not
made a public statement yet."
Fairmont Shipping is a dry bulk owner and operator based in Hong Kong, but
also has extensive manning and shipping interests in the Philippines.
The other company involved in the startup is a Hong Kong internet incubation
business, Pioneer iConcepts. It is majority owned by Pioneer Global Group, a
Hong Kong listed firm with a focus on IT and telecommunications infrastructure.
The web-based marine procurement technology for ShipExQuote was
contributed by Command Line Corp of the US, which is also a partner in
iShipExchange.
Command Line adapted its proprietary software Quotingdock to the
iShipExchange project and the company has offered multi-industry
procurement systems for the past 15 years and marine-specific solutions over
the past five years.
Although the site is based in Hong Kong, the backers are trading globally with
a strong network of international owners and charterers, so that the site
is expected to be a global player rather than simply a regional project.
Ms Ho McAfee said that a formal announcement would be made in a month or
two when the public would be invited to use the ShipExQuote site.
cLLP Limited 2000

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