The Navigate Response newsletterOctober 2017

Crisis communications: The P&I club perspective / 2

‘Industry Experts’ / 4

The challenges of deploying cyber security products onboard a vessel / 6

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Crisis communications are a key component of effective incident management in the aftermath of a shipping casualty.

From the perspective of a P&I claims team, we see crisis communications as fulfilling three functions:

• Reduce the pressure on the shipowner. A shipping casualty generates a significant amount of work for the shipowner and his/her supporting team which will include insurers. Media management agencies have a role to play in a shipowner’s team and anything that reduces the workload and allows each party to focus on their designated roles or areas of expertise, helps to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the incident response.

• Protection of reputation. Managing communications in a crisis is key to protecting the reputations

of the parties involved. Media management agencies have the necessary skills and experience to assist with the protection of reputation and to guide the shipowner.

• Provide information to interested parties. Many third third-party stakeholders require information following a casualty. There are important benefits in communicating with stakeholders effectively, early and often. A media management agency will assist with this.

Crisis communications support is usually put in place well in advance of any incident occurring. This gives the media management agency and the shipowner the opportunity to establish a relationship, prepare materials and undertake operational training, in preparation for when they will be needed – although it is hoped they will never be needed!

Navigate Response

Autumn is in the air and at Navigate Response that always means one thing – lots of media training.

From mid-September until shortly before Christmas our media trainers are on the road almost full time meeting our clients and delivering the media training that is included as a standard part of all our media response contracts.

Over the coming months we will be in almost every shipping centre from Tokyo to Hamburg. If you’d be interested in learning more about our services, we would welcome the opportunity to meet you while we are in your city. Please drop us a line.

Historically we expect to respond to fewer incidents during the summer, but this year has been an exception and we have been kept busy supporting our clients with situations of all sorts.

It’s easy to assume that maritime media response is all about oil spills and collisions, but such incidents are only about a third of our incident work load – our summer has been filled with crew detentions, sanctions issues, cyber systems failures, pirate attacks and a murder mystery that rivals the best of Agatha Christie.

Here’s to a stress-free final quarter of 2017 for all.

Mark your calendars:

Gallagher Marine Systems - 2017 Maritime Symposium, London, 13-14 November 2017

Proaction vs Reaction: Navigating the first 48 hours of a maritime casualty, Hong Kong, 16 November 2017

Crisis communications: The P&I club perspective

Matthew Moore, Admiralty Director, North of England P&I Association

Navigate Response is proud to have been chosen by North P&I Club as its media response partner for a joint initiative aimed at raising awareness around the importance of proactive media planning. Our strong working relationships with the leading P&I clubs ensures that we are able to work seamlessly to support shipowners and managers during any incident or situation which could attract media attention.

Of course, Navigate Response is your front line for media calls in a crisis. But can you – should you – take stock and invest in some proactive media relations? Do editors know you and your company exist – before your ship beaches, or collides with another vessel? The shipping story might be reported more contextually if rapport can be developed with the right journalists.

Raising a CEO’s profile can build a company’s brand confidence; people call for your comment because you know your stuff. And when the moment comes, it’s the same rapport which transmits on camera in a crisis. Journalists find it harder to be negative about the people they like.

The crisis is still a crisis, but a journalist or an editor can be an asset in correcting a narrative if you’ve built a bridge before bridges are blown.

Most journalists have little time to move far beyond a keyboard. But then again, most haven’t seen a ship close up. Their perspective is often second hand. Having something to show them – interest them – say a new ship system on the bridge with the Master – might give them a feature.

You might impress them with your fleet operation. So, when the casualty comes you have a bank of goodwill.

What editors need in a crisis is content: factual accuracy and

quality go-to people for informative comment. A shipping company has expertise by the tanker load. So why not let the best of it surface?

Some years back there was heated criticism over the British Army’s SA80 rifle system. When modified, and the A2 version then rigorously trialled, the media were invited to have a go. We flew them down to a range near Salisbury Plain in a Chinook. Not so much a bang, bang club, more a clinic – to pretty much silence the cynics.

And I recall the RAF going one better. They put the Sun’s defence correspondent up in a Eurofighter Typhoon. The aircraft had been dogged with soaring costs and was four years overdue.

“You think that’s impressive? Well watch this.” And with the quickest of jerks he flipped the jet – and we were flying supersonic upside down... wrote the air-sick reporter. At twice the speed of sound, that’s the most fun a journalist can have sitting down! In PR terms, it’s as good as it gets.

Through a glass darkly – well, with care we can offer a different perspective, reflect some mind-blowing facts and ground any criticism.

A visit to a ship or a port is enough to excite most journalists. Put a journalist in high-viz and hard hat and see the dividends in future coverage.

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‘We’re not getting out of the Prime Minister’s way, because we are not in it’, stresses the editor of the Sun (one of the UK’s leading tabloids) on the phone in a spat over helicopters and flight plans during a frenzied election campaign. As a press officer, I found myself opposite the editor on a visit to what was then News International. Her feisty power-play still lingers as a heady remnant of brusque media relations. Tantrums and tones are more cordial face-to-face. Journalists are less scary across a desk, or a lunch – even through a glass darkly.

I wasn’t visiting the Sun on a story. This was rapport-building, putting faces to names; frankly, making better use of my time as a press officer when government communications treads water during pre-election purdah.

But that’s the point. Journalists come at us in a crisis – out of nowhere. You don’t know them, they don’t know you – and yet they are as reliant on your engagement as you are on them for their accuracy and understanding.

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Jonathan Spencer, Crisis Response Manager, Navigate Response

Bridge-building before the crisis

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‘Industry Experts’- Half truths, Supposition and Speculation

and suppose their way through a critique of the collision.

Interest in the clip initially escalated when it was posted in an article on the online maritime news portal gCaptain. The article itself focused on the established facts, but at the bottom of the article was a section for Opinions and Reactions in which pundits tweeted their own interpretations; @AdamWeinstein “…it sort of looks like the tanker turns into the McCain. Am I interpreting right?”

How can someone “interpret right” when the movements of the other vessel involved are unknown?

Speculation in a tweet is one thing, but on an incident with this level of international coverage it’s the bloggers who take speculation to a new level and it’s often done under the cloak of an ‘industry expert’. One such blog posted on August 24th by SEAPROF and subsequently emailed out to numerous maritime contacts sets out to assess the accident based on the AIS animation and photos of the damaged USS John S McCain.

“We know from the AIS video that the GPS data speed of the ‘ALNIC’ was about 9.5 knots. The pre-incident speed of the ‘MACCAIN’ is not publicly known but such warships can travel at high speed

if required. However, it is likely that the MACCAIN’s speed was moderate while travelling in a heavy traffic area.”

Without any concrete evidence at all about the USS John S McCain the author speculates. The author then goes on to analyse a two-dimensional photograph of the damage without the benefits of post-accident measurements or 3D modelling:

“The depth of the indentation shows that the relative speeds between the two vessels were such that the ‘ALNIC’ must have been travelling somewhat faster than the ‘MACCAIN’ ... Also, the angle of blow was relatively shallow and appears to have been perhaps at angle of about 20 – 30 degrees between the two vessels.” Luckily for the industry, the investigations into this terrible accident will rely on hard evidence from onboard systems, witness statements and the co-operation of the parties involved – not incomplete information, supposition and speculation.

What is an ‘industry expert’? It’s not just an online phenomenon, all the major television networks turned to ‘experts’ for soundbites. For NBC and Reuters it was retired US Navy Admiral James Stavidis who is highly trained and credible but there were plenty of ‘experts’ who weren’t.

Looking at another tragic incident, the El Faro sinking in October 2015, the CBS affiliated WJAX TV out of Jacksonville Florida used a young man to comment on the cause of the accident after introducing him as having “been on ships like El Faro”. If “been on ships” makes for an industry expert, then there’s certainly plenty of us about.

There are a lot of people out there willing to speculate on an accident, often with just scraps of detail. It’s not a situation you can fully control, but it is one that you need to handle. This is why monitoring of media and social media is vital. You need to know what is being said so that if the supposition and speculation gets out of hand you can address it and stop it from going viral and causing lasting reputational damage.

The recent tragedy in the Singapore Strait involving the destroyer, USS John S McCain and the tanker, Alnic MC is a reminder of the growing influence of social media and its use by ‘industry experts’ to create an atmosphere of supposition and speculation that contorts public perception and can lead to reputational damage.

Just hours after news of the collision broke, the vessel tracking website VesselFinder posted an accelerated animation based on the Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracking data from the tanker, Alnic MC showing its course pre-collision and then its sudden halt. Certainly, an interesting animation, one that has since amassed nearly 120,000 views. However, what isn’t shown in the clip is the course or the actions of the USS John S McCain because military vessels typically do not transmit AIS. Despite lacking this fundamental data, the clip became an analysis centrepiece for a collection of ‘industry experts’ who were more than happy to assume

By Andrew Leahy, Senior Consultant Navigate Response

audience (language, age, gender, cultural reference points, shared experiences, etc.) and communicate through a channel that is close to them or one that they trust – this is partly why local publications are so important in a crisis.

• Preconceptions of the world. No matter how open minded we pride ourselves on being, we all have preconceptions about what is, and is not, believable. Such preconceptions can be very general (e.g. “people are lazy”), can apply to specific groups of people (e.g. “Canadians are very polite”) or can apply to an individual (e.g. “everything Donald Trump says is a lie”). Strategic take away: No matter the truth of any situation, there are somethings which will be believable to an audience and others which will not. A successful communications strategy depends on making the truth (or more sinisterly a lie) believable to an audience, and to do this we must understand how the target audience perceives the situation.

For example, let’s imagine that our audience believes that “oil companies don’t care about polluting the environment; they only care

about profit.” If we tell them that “oil company X prioritises environmental protection in all its decisions,” the audience probably won’t believe us and we can expect to be met with cynicism and hostility. We need to find a way to make our message believable to our audience. For example, we could frame it in the context of legislation – e.g. “We comply with all environmental legislation in all our decisions” – this works if the audience believes that environmental legislation is strong. Or better still, we could flatter the activism of the sceptics – e.g. “We know that environmental protection is a priority for our customers, therefore, we prioritise environmental protection in all our decisions.”

Frustratingly, having the “truth” on your side is not enough to convince an audience to trust you, but if you understand the psychology of the audience you can still win their trust. If I figure out how to present something as coming from an ingroup and fit it into an audience’s preconceptions of the world, I can make them believe almost anything – even a lie (never a good idea in crisis communications, but sadly a tactic used by some).

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The psychology of information: Why lies are more believable than truths

Even the most suspicious people, those who claim they don’t believe anything they see in the media, actually believe almost everything... if the story appears “believable” to them.

Believability is hugely subjective and can be influenced. In crisis communications, we must ensure that the truth is more believable than the narratives of ignorance or “campaigning” which other parties may promote.

The world is sufficiently complicated that we cannot possibly scrutinise every bit of information, but how do people decide what to believe and what to be suspicious about?

It’s rarely a conscious choice, but rather one which depends on some degree of instinct, the psychology of which can be understood with reference to two key variables:

• Ingroup relationships. Social identity theory (http://www.navigateresponse.com/news/its-all-just-talk-the-power-of-connection) tells us that we are more likely to believe (and respect) those people who are like us – our ingroup. For example, Brits are more likely to trust the BBC, while Americans may trust CNN, and at the extremes, North Korean’s may believe the news from their state broadcaster. Strategic take away: To influence an audience, find ways to make yourself seem more like that

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Dustin Eno, COO & Crisis Response Manager, Navigate Response

researchers in recent years who have revealed technical vulnerabilities in maritime technologies. There have even been organised hackathons against maritime technologies, such as the US Navy’s HACKtheMACHINE event. When the maritime sector is analysed, it can clearly be seen that the attack surface (the sum of the points where an attacker can try to access a system) is large and increasing, as shown below:

Some of these systems fall into the enterprise IT bracket, however, many others do not, especially those associated with wireless communications technologies, navigation systems and industrial control systems (ICS), which are arguably the most important systems due to their impact on the safety of the vessel and the crew.

The cyber security products and technologies that are used to monitor enterprise IT systems are reasonably mature. However, with the increased risk of attacks on the operational and navigation technologies, we have started to see companies trying to implement the same security products that have worked for enterprise systems onboard ships.

At first glance, this seems like an obvious approach to take. However,

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The challenges of deploying cyber security products onboard a vessel

Andy Davis, Transport Assurance Practice Director, NCC Group

Cyber security in the maritime sector is a hot topic which has only started to be taken seriously by the shipping industry in the last couple of years. This follows increased security concerns in other areas of transport, the most high-profile of which has been the automotive industry. The increase in both wired and wireless technologies which are being incorporated into connected and autonomous cars has motivated several high-profile demonstrations being carried out by security researchers investigating the impact of a remote attack on vehicles by hackers with some scary results.

Although not at the same level, there have also been a number of security

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this strategy is not able to provide the level of cyber security assurance required to protect such safety-critical systems.

There are broadly two approaches to monitoring for cyber security breaches: network-based and host-based.

With network-based monitoring, the network traffic between computers is monitored for signatures of known malicious attacks or behavioural changes, which are likely indicators of compromise.

The host-based approach involves installing small software components, or agents, on each computer that needs to be monitored. These agents then monitor the computer for indicators of compromise.

Unfortunately, neither of these approaches are appropriate on-board a ship:

• In a network-based monitoring scenario, the communications bandwidth required between the ship and shore-based security operations centre is just too expensive to make it a practical solution.

• In a host-based scenario, it is extremely challenging to install agents on the most critical systems,

the navigation and industrial control systems, due to The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and type approval constraints. Once the systems have been type approved, they can no longer have additional software components added.

Ultimately, vessels are not the same as an enterprise environment. Security monitoring solutions, which are fine for IT office-based systems, are just not fit for purpose onboard a ship. So, what is the solution for maritime?

Rather than trying to solve the cyber security problem by installing devices, a more holistic approach is required. For example:

• Cyber security awareness training for all crew: Cyber security is not an IT issue. Instead, it is something that everyone needs to be aware of. Currently the biggest cyber security problem aboard ships is USB memory stick sharing, which often results in the malware infection of critical systems.

• Separation of systems and networks to provide a layered protection model: Systems that crew interact with regularly, such as Wi-Fi or email systems should be segregated from more operational systems to reduce the impact of a remote attack or malware infection.

• Security monitoring should be added by the marine electronics suppliers: Longer-term security monitoring will require the involvement of the marine electronics suppliers. This means that security monitoring and host-based agents can be designed in, and therefore included in, the type approval process.

As with other transport industries, to prepare for future threats, the maritime sector needs to be adopting a Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) based approach, which considers cyber security at all stages in the lifecycle of products and systems.

Andy Davis, Transport Assurance Practice Director, joined NCC Group in 2010 as Research Director. In his role as Transport Assurance Practice Director his team delivers a comprehensive suite of cyber security and assurance services to Automotive, Maritime, Rail and Aerospace sectors across the globe. Andy has more than 25 years’ experience in cyber security gained from working in various Government departments and high-profile roles in a range of security consulting firms.

recognition are becoming more important in guiding key decisions. Like money, a brand is an abstract concept, a set of values, a promise. It could be a promise of solidity, competence, reliability, strength. It could be a promise of cheapness or no-frills. Your brand attributes are embedded in your corporate culture: how your workforce is treated; the way the phone is answered; or your corporate social responsibility strategy.

If a budget airline made headlines for their poor service, staff mistreatment, large carbon footprint and cramped seating, they might be perceived as being cheaper than their competition, thus attracting more sales interest (that’s right, deliberately ‘bad’ branding can be very good for business). At the other end of the scale, if a luxury hotel wanted to appear exclusive and desirable, it might accommodate a celebrity for instant passive

exposure, reach out to other premium brands for product and service partnerships, and adopt a confident, minimal visual brand using high-quality and beautifully-designed materials across the board.

With their massive profitshare of the smartphone market, the chances are you have an Apple product in your life. Why is it that Apple has moved from being an eccentric niche product to a global household name? The digital revolution has been key, but the world’s most valuable brand this year, worth $170bn according to Forbes, is also one of branding’s ultimate success stories. In 2017, you no longer need to see the ubiquitous Apple logo to recognise the product.

Minimal packaging, aspirational advertising, the clean white look and feel of the website, and a direct, conversational tone of voice all contribute towards an instantly-understandable brand that has many instantly hooked. The intuitive operating system, neat product design and easy-to-use software seem almost of secondary importance. 77% of B2B marketing leaders say branding is critical to growth (Circle Research), with the same principle applying to B2C marketing strategy. Looking at Apple’s brand journey, it’s easy to see the results.

It’s a misconception to think of a brand as just a logo. A brand is a story that you want your public

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Over a couple of hundred years, the word ‘brand’ has developed from an effective means of identifying cattle, to a sophisticated and sometimes nebulous global industry. Where a picture paints a thousand words, a visual brand instantly conveys your company’s values through typography, tone of voice, shape, imagery, colour, and texture. Think you don’t have a brand? Think again - everybody has a brand, and if you’re not convinced of its importance, you could be doing your company irreparable damage.

The familiar quote from Warren Buffet that “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it” could be adapted to branding: a well-considered and implemented brand strategy could help place you at the forefront of your industry. Getting your brand wrong could mean people don’t give you a second glance, or worse, consciously avoid doing business with you.

While many people understand the value of effective corporate branding, explaining it to those who don’t can be difficult. Yet, according to Reuters, 82% of investors believe that brand strength and name

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Power to the brand

Alistair Fowler, Creative Director and Brand Consultant

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to believe; a well-conceived and properly-applied brand imbues credibility and eliminates confusion. The average revenue increase attributed to presenting the brand consistently is 23% (LucidPress), and, to help achieve this, brands are strategised, positioned, and then built from a painstakingly defined kit of parts.

Brand guidelines are a vital toolkit that set out these elements and show how to bring them together, with consistent application cultivating professionalism and trust.

Applications are likely to range from stationery and presentation decks, through social media and websites, to environmental graphics, wayfinding systems and transportation livery. A brand landscape is created with graphic devices, colour palettes, typography and imagery as players of equal importance. The logo - frequently assumed to be ‘the brand’ - is just as crucial, but appears within this broader landscape with varying degrees of presence.

Brand guardianship is a never-ending task - nothing should leave your office without you asking ‘How will this affect my brand story?’. A successful, ongoing dialogue between brand and customer is an important one to maintain; 89% of B2B marketers say brand awareness is the most important goal (Content Marketing Institution).

The devil really is in the details, and every aspect of your brand, no matter how large or small, is critical in making you memorable, consistent and believable to a fickle global audience.

Alistair Fowler is an independent Creative Director and Brand Consultant.

www.alistairfowler.com mail@alistairfowler.com

Shipping needs to share more info on accidents. It’s usually a split-second decision; you share a post with your followers because you think it is useful/funny/interesting to them. In the modern world, you would think that sharing information would come as second nature to most people especially when human life is at stake.

Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) is the first and most important rule in the shipping industry – you grasp its significance when ALL shipping and maritime conferences open with clear instructions on where to exit in case of an emergency. Last month (August 2017) saw a flurry of events happening with the International Safety @ Sea Conference as a cornerstone event. Held on the 22 August at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront in Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)-organised conference was well-attended with both international and local delegates and speakers.

One presentation that stuck with me from the conference was one delivered by Mr Jan Willem Verkiel, Harbourmaster Policy Department from the Port of Rotterdam. He espoused the need for transparency and sharing of information so the industry can learn from such incidents and apply prevention measures to make shipping safer. His passionate speech triggered an interesting point during a panel discussion about making this information public and his reply was in essence: Yes we can share

that information but it would only be useful if everyone shared the information and not just them.

He cited an example – where ports were invited to share their data on the incidents taking place in their port space. The Port of Rotterdam saw the benefits of doing so, and happily compiled. However, what Rotterdam did not see coming was the subsequent revelation that it had become the most unsafe port in the world! It was only after a while they realised they were the ONLY PORT contributing this data. So, with no comparative data, the Port of Rotterdam was used as case study for port incidents and inadvertently became the worst port in the world with “so many” incidents taking place.

We know this is not true. Accidents do happen in most ports; it is just a matter of how transparent one is willing to be, to volunteer such sensitive information. It makes one wonder to what length is the industry willing to share such sensitive information despite evidence of the benefits outweighing the cons. Benefits: You share. I share. Everyone shares = more data to take preventive action; cons: “face issue” – what is everyone going to think with so many incidents taking place in my port?

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated occurrence. Knowledge is key and often gives its holder a competitive advantage. But to gain a bigger picture – and to progress our industry collectively – we need to change our mind-set to help the industry step up. There is a vast amount of data out there and in order to benefit, everyone needs to share more of it freely.

As they say in internet speak: Sharing is Caring.

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Do you care enough to share?

By Valerie Lim, General Manager, Helix Media

generators were starved of fuel. Power to the steering was lost and the ship went aground in shallow waters. Under the circumstances it was the captain’s best option. It stopped the ship from turning turtle, which could have led to the loss of all hands onboard.

It was a nightmare in broad daylight. I had to think clearly to advise the captain on vital steps he must take to stop progressive flooding and to prepare his ship for evacuation. An hour later I was with our emergency team in the office ‘red-room’, ticking off checklist items one by one. But we were soon facing the unexpected – not listed in our manual. With phone lines burning, we arranged to aid our ship thousands of miles away from our office.

On the scene, harbour tugs had rushed to the rescue. The crew – and some family passengers aboard – had to descend fifteen metres by rope ladder since the ship now listing more than 35 degrees made lifeboats unusable. Of course, we took comfort that no lives were lost.

But that was the last positive news. A heavy fuel oil bunker tank had ruptured. The sea was choppy, and booms could not contain the oil which was drifting towards fish farms and beaches in the area. With the heavy list, containers, some of them with dangerous cargo, fell from the ship blocking the navigation channel.

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Every organization is vulnerable to crises, whether they realize it or not. Things happen.

Crises come as an unfortunate mathematical probability when supervising a fleet of more than 150 ships and some 4000 seafarers.

As a designated person to contact in an emergency, I was on call when one of my biggest crises came on a Saturday as I was planning a family picnic. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a container ship captain. ‘We’ve had a collision, we’re taking on water, and listing heavily to one side’.

‘Any casualties?’ was my first query. ‘The Chief Officer fell and sprained his ankle during the impact …all others accounted for and OK. There’s a bit of panic but I’m trying to control that’.

‘How did it happen? …what’s the extent of the damage?’ I asked, motioning to my family that our outing was now cancelled.

Our ship was leaving port through a narrow channel when she was rammed broadside by another vessel and ruptured eight water-tight compartments. The other ship complicated things by going astern after the collision instead of staying locked in position.

A loss of stability caused our ship to list twenty degrees and the

Captain VS Parani, author of Golden Stripes- Leadership on the High Seas

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We’ve had a collision and we’re taking on water… What next…?

Three of our senior representatives flew out to the site. We asked our insurance, salvage, oil spill containment experts, and the local media response consultant to join them as soon as possible.

By Sunday morning, dramatic images of our ship were splashed across almost every newspaper and television channels around the world. Social media was in overdrive with opinions: Was ship’s condition the cause…? An act of sabotage...?

The oil spill was 1/2000th the size of the Deepwater Horizon spill but the coverage appeared to be just as sensational. Images of birds, rocks and beach – all smeared with fuel oil – began to appear. Our managers on site were hard-pressed – arranging the salvage of the ship and containers, and the measures to take to control oil pollution. Simultaneously, national authorities, local officials, coast guard, tour operators, fishermen and journalists all wanted to know what was going on.

Thankfully, our media response consultants were a real asset and helped us manage the storm of interest. It would take a year for the case to be closed. As I reflect on it, our own response – including that of our consultants – helped prevent a bad situation from becoming worse.

So, what did I learn?• Act quickly. Every second counts! • Act decisively, even if you don’t

have all the information. • Have at least one senior

representative on the scene.• Engage experts to assist

as required.• Communicate, Communicate,

Communicate.

Captain VS Parani is the Author of Golden Stripes- Leadership on the High Seas, (ISBN 978-184995-314-6, Whittles Publishing, Scotland). It is the world’s first leadership book by a merchant-mariner. The views in this article are his own and do not represent that of his employers, or the organizations he is associated with. He can be reached at www.parani.org.

the really bad crisis if – or when – it happens?

Building on our extensive airline experience – where some of the best crisis planning on the books today exists – we help our clients to prepare for crises in any form that they may take.

Companies sometimes focus on preparing for crises which center around them and while this is important it is incomplete. A crisis such as the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong can be just as damaging to an individual company and require an effective crisis communications response of a different nature than the ones that most companies plan for.

Whether a crisis is local or global, slow onset or of immediate impact, each is handled in its own unique way, while using the rigorous plans that we have put in place with the client.

Working with the Thai media can be a challenge – there are 20 daily newspapers in Bangkok alone and journalists are often not well trained – and yet perhaps it’s easier than elsewhere since Thai media are generally not very hard-hitting. They seldom do their homework or dig deep for the story.

In our region, maritime crises have more to do with waterways than the open seas. In most cases, no matter the location, a crisis usually involves ferries or other water transport systems. In these situations, where

the vessels in question are owned by local companies, the means, or interest, to handle fallout is generally not there. Although the international publicity – when tourists are involved – can be destructive from every perspective.

In terms of shipping, most incidents, when they do happen, receive little coverage or attention.

However, one maritime situation has gained interest with a wide spectrum of parties, ranging from the U.S. Treasury to the EU, not to mention several major media outlets. The issue of slavery on fishing vessels operating in and around South-East Asia has seen in-depth stories across respected publications and outlets worldwide. The Thai government has tried to show some clear and real actions – with mixed results.

It was our work with a major seafood company based here in Thailand that saw the organization working as hard as possible to clean up its supply chain – and counter criticism of slavery. The company was up front with the media, demonstrating its actions, whilst dealing straight forwardly and openly with clients worldwide.

The fact that the issue seems to have faded, if not totally gone away, suggests these actions are having a positive effect, while the problem itself is now being tackled by the governments involved – although with varying degrees of real commitment.

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In Bangkok, a sprawling capital of more than 15 million, in a country pushing 70 million, public relations continues to fight for its rightful place. Unlike regional centers, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, Bangkok is seen as a more secondary market and so many of the international communications players are not here – but that’s fine with us.

For an agency to succeed it needs to be a generalist in the best possible sense of the word. Looking to focus on a single specialty in a market like this, however good you may be, leaves you very exposed should a downturn come, or a major crisis suddenly hit as they can in this part of the world (i.e. SARS in Hong Kong, and the havoc it wrecked on the travel and tourism sector).

Working across a wide swath of business areas, including corporate, consumer, financial services, IT and telecoms, healthcare and travel, among others– it is clear many companies need to build more preparedness into their incident plans. How else are they to handle

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Tom Van Blarcom, Managing Director, TQPR Thailand

Navigating the Thai media space

Crisis communications for shippingNavigate Response is the strongest global crisis communications network specialising in the international shipping, port and offshore industries; headquartered in London and Singapore, we operate a global network of 38 offices in 24 countries around the world.

Engaging Navigate Response ensures that you are prepared for the worst and allows you to focus on dealing with the operational side of an incident without being distracted by the pressures of the 24/7 media.

Navigate Response is recommended by P&I Clubs in the International Group.

Contact

24/7 incident line: +44 (0)20 7283 9915 www.navigateresponse.com

United Kingdom

enquiries@navigateresponse.com +44 (0)20 3326 8451

Singapore

asia@navigateresponse.com +65 6222 6375

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