Executives surveyed for a new research whitepaper by maritime e-procurement platform ShipServ have rated electronic purchasing in the industry at “two out of ten” in terms of its evolution to date, though one third of respondents believe the market will change beyond all recognition in the next five years, driven by developments in advanced technology and applications.

Maritime software company Q88 reports that it has made a “substantial investment” in US-headquartered iMarine Software, the provider of the Cloud-based Seaproc e-procurement platform for the shipping industry.

Maritime procurement company iMarine Software has announced that it has completed integration of its SeaProc platform with the SERTICA fleet management package provided by Denmark-based Logimatic, to allow the 1,200 vessels using the SERTICA system to directly connect to SeaProc.

Maritime e-procurement company Kinnetik Solutions has announced a new agreement with Tero Marine to integrate its Cloud-based purchasing system with the TM Master fleet management software package.

Bureau Veritas has announced a new partnership deal with bluester, linking its digital platforms with the bluester online marketplace and providing independent vendor qualification services to bluester users.

Zurich-based maritime software company MESPAS has launched a new web-based trading platform to link vessel operators and maritime suppliers, to increase efficiency in their procurement processes.

Maritime e-procurement company ShipServ reports that it has completed the integration of its e-commerce platform with Francois Marine Services’ new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, to streamline the logistics company’s ability to process transactions and respond to RFQs.

ShipServ has released the results of a survey of 100 maritime buyers across different sectors, pointing to an industry-wide lack of structured data for analysis of procurement trends and optimisation of processes.

iMarine Software has launched a new app to allow shipping companies to manage procurement on mobile devices via its Cloud-based software platform.

UK-based Marine Software Ltd reports that it has completed the installation of its Marine Purchasing (MPSWin) package for the superyacht Lady A, to add to the existing Marine Planned Maintenance (MPMWin) system already in use.