IF e-business sites generated business in proportion to the amount of publicity material they produce, then everyone involved in them would be millionaires by now. The fact that little of the hype makes it into the news columns of the main shipping publications perhaps demonstrates that most observers take a long-term view of the sector’s likely development.

What does make the news, however, is not always what the spammers want to see. Take Maritime Direct’s staff cutback, losing ten of its 60 staff, prompting one publication to speculate that it could be "the first victim of the Internet backlash". It was a view that – not unnaturally – MD’s marketing director David Wurf disagrees with, saying that "this is the first time we have ever heard mention of observers listing us as a victim."

Co-founder Connor O’Brien spoke to Fairplay of changed priorities, of temporary staff leaving and others being redeployed and of negotiations taking place with other sites – which he declined to identify – that would licence and re-brand MD data.

But when will he make a profit? Cashflow will go positive in the third quarter of next year, he predicted. And are his backers – who have never been identified – satisfied? "Pretty much," he replied.

Elsewhere, the focus has been on consolidation. Take SynchroNet, for example, which operates a B2B container exchange service, matching up customers with empty boxes to move with others who need to move cargo. Earlier this month it took over Transamerica Leasing’s (TL’s) Greybox, although the ‘Greybox’ name itself remains with TL.

SynchroN ...