Published on 21 May 2024
Lessons from Recent Incidents
Published on 21 May 2024
Nicholas Rich, Director of Fleet Management at BSM, highlighted during his presentation at this year’s ShipTek the critical role that media plays in life today and the risk this can present to the reputation of a shipping company. Day-to-day operations in shipping seemingly exist out of the public eye, so when a ship suffers an incident the level of public interest is enormous, with the media and social media acting as a catalyst. By examining some of the publicly available material relating to recent incidents through the eyes of a member of the public, not a shipping professional, Nicholas shows how easily the reputation of an organisation can be threatened, whether deserved or not, simply by how media coverage is developing. He highlights the need for candid and timely communication and with a concrete example, the huge demand on resources that the sheer volume of media material that needs to be evaluated requires so an appropriate response can be given to enable the shipping company to maintain the most positive public face that is possible.
