Tech

Rival to VesselsValue hoves into view

Maritime Strategies International is set to give online pricing portal VesselsValue a run for its money with significant upgrades to its own online valuations service.

MSI unveiled this week significant upgrades to its Forecast Marine eValuator (FMV), its unique online asset valuation and forecasting service. New to the MSI website is an Indicative Value Range (IVR) assessment underpinned by MSI’s FMV model, which provides detailed forecasts for marine and offshore asset values, earnings and operating costs. Prior to committing to FMV data, a timeseries forecast or certificated current value, MSI website visitors can generate a free IVR estimate for their vessels.

 The IVR calculator is integrated to a global vessel database meaning that users can simply enter a vessel name to receive an assessment of value for the current quarter with key characteristics included.

The global fleet database is also now integrated to the full scale FMV service, enabling users to populate vessel characteristics from a vessel name or IMO number. Using the database as a reference, MSI uses its own proprietary methodology to calculate forecast asset value, operating costs and earnings on a quarter by quarter basis.

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“The launch of the IVR marks the start of a programme of enhancements to FMV and an increasing focus on providing fast and accurate forecasts for values and cashflows to the market at a point when interest in key shipping metrics is intense,” said Dr Adam Kent, director of MSI, in a release.

To date, VesselsValue, also from the UK, has been the most high profile online ship pricing tool used by the industry since its launch in 2011. MSI has clearly targeted some of this business with its revamped pricing model.

Speaking with Splash, MSI’s Kent said that the decision to make the new Indicative Value Range (IVR) assessment free combined with the fact MSI’s values are not purely algorithmic would help set it apart from rivals.

The company’s ship valuations are derived using a combination of MSI’s proprietary econometric models, actual transactions and market intelligence.

“This approach has been retrospectively shown to generate very accurate representations of vessel prices even when comparable transactions have been limited or for sectors with illiquid S&P markets,” Kent maintained.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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