DO we really need the Internet to fix our ships? The present system seems to work very well, with brokers actively looking for business for their clients. "If you put your requirements on the door of a toilet, most brokers would find their way to that toilet," argues Alex Gray, executive director of Clarkson’s.

That is not to say that Clarkson’s is against brokers getting into e-commerce, as shown by its own Shipping Information Network and investments in a number of e-business ventures, including Ocean-Connect and LevelSeas.

But he sees the industry as "worried and confused", and told last month’s Plymouth University conference that brokers "are not worried about disintermediation." What seeme ...