Online Bulk Shipping Exchange Will Transform Market

An online shipping exchange being set up by two of the world's biggest oil firms, a leading agrifood multinational and top shipbroker will transform the way traditional shipping markets work, industry experts said. The company, LevelSeas.com, being set up by oil majors BP Amoco and Shell International Trading and Shipping with food processor and distributor Cargill and shipbroker Clarksons, will potentially control 10 percent of bulk commodity movements right from the beginning. The independent Internet company will provide freight management services, online chartering and freight derivatives, across the $100 billion market in the global movement of wet and dry bulk commodities by sea, the four firms said. Involvement of the four, who represent significant oil and grain shipping volumes, would accelerate industry-wide adoption of the marketplace, LevelSeas said. Based in Europe, LevelSeas will be launched in the third quarter of 2000. No financial details were available.