Thomas Miller is to be one of the lead investors in a new fund-raising round to be conducted by ShipServe.

Miller and a number of other investors will put $5m into ShipServe, a US based e-commerce venture that offers shipowners the opportunities to buy spare parts and supplies over the Internet.

ShipServe founder, Paul Ostergaard, says Miller is an ideal investor as it has strong relationships with owners of 50% of the world merchant fleet, yet does not pose the commercial conflicts of a marine equipment firm.

Miller