Worldscale, the 500-page annual guide to
tanker freight rates, is going to become available via the Internet as of March 5, 2001. The site has been jointly developed by the Worldscale Associations in London and New York, and tested among existing subscribers.
“This is the most significant advance in the Worldscale product since the concept was introduced more than 40 years ago,” said Iain Shaw, chairman of the Worldscale Association (London) Ltd. and CEO of Seascope Shipping Ltd.
The organization believes that the Internet version – which is designed as a “no frills” package with minimal graphics – offers many advantages to the printed guide. In addition to speed and ease of use and round-the-clock availability, it provides access to Worldscale’s complete database of 280,000 flat rates, which is quadruple the number found in the printed version. It also gives alternative voyage routings, and automatically highlights information that normally needs to be investigated separately.
Internet access is available only to Worldscale subscribers, who pay an annual fee of $1,825. The additional cost of subscribing to the Internet service is $1,000, however the cost of licenses for additional users within the subscribers organization is $75 each. Worldscale was first published in 1969