02/09/98 THE SHIPPING NEWS DOCKS TO THE WEB

THE SHIPPING NEWS DOCKS TO THE WEB

TECHNOLOGY HAS GIVEN THE Journal of Commerce some hard knocks. For years, the 170-year-old newspaper, known for posting cargo ship schedules, has struggled as shippers moved from sea transport to planes and trucks. Now, technology will play a part once more in whether the paper sinks or swims. The threat this time: the Internet.
Advertisers such as P&O Nedlloyd, Hanjin Shipping, and Cosco Group are bypassing the Economist Group-owned journal by posting ship listings on their own Web sites and communicating directly with shippers electronically. That has hit the New York-based daily hard. Ad sales, say sources at the JOC, fell 14% during the six months ended Sept. 30. The paper declined to comment on ad sales but did say that it is laying off 65 of its 450 employees.
The Journal of Commerce isn't going down without a fight, however. As part of a $7 million restructuring, the paper will hire more staffers to bolster its own year-old Web site, which already carries news and offers ship schedules to subscribers. The improved site will include archived stories and links to other cargo carriers' Web sites. Willy Morgan, the Journal of Commerce's publisher, says the paper's future must ''increasingly become electronic.''
EDITED BY ROBERT McNATT
By Heather Green