Middle East: Media advice for the maritime sector

Media interest in maritime trade is escalating as the challenging situation in the Middle East develops. Shipping companies need to be prepared for potential media interest in their activities – here’s our advice

Shipping finds itself at the centre of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East which is dominating global media attention.

With geopolitical tension at a high, the maritime sector is on the front lines of yet another widespread global story. With marine transport of cargoes in the region at a near standstill, journalists are looking for new angles, unique perspectives, and an understanding of the international impacts. Amidst the attention, maritime companies, and in some cases individual vessels, are receiving media enquiries directly – with the situation poised to continue over coming weeks.

As Navigate Response supports clients to address this media interest, we share our insights and advice on the public demand for information:

For companies that have people in the region, extreme care must be taken to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to a specific vessel, person or the company in general. That doesn’t necessarily mean staying silent, but adopting a cautious approach to information disclosure is certainly advisable. When considering key messages to communicate, the safety of your people in a warzone needs to be the unwavering top priority.

For those companies observing the situation from afar – without people or assets in the region – the risks may be lower and contributing ‘insider commentary’ to media outlets may be a viable avenue to building rapport with the press. The truth is that the industry benefits when journalists, and through them the public, better understand the vital role of shipping in our internationalised world. Communicating now can avoid misunderstandings in the long term.

Regardless of the reason for engaging with the media, we emphasize some general principles to navigating the current news environment:
• Always communicate in a structured and coordinated way to avoid multiple voices speaking with conflicting messages. That typically means selecting a single spokesperson or letting your press office be the sole point of liaison with the media. Navigate Response routinely acts as the press office for our clients.
• Remind all staff to refrain from commenting on behalf of the company (including on social media) unless they are an appointed spokesperson. All staff – whatever their role – should be trained and know what to say during an initial media enquiry. Once received, staff should promptly notify the spokesperson/press office of the enquiry.
• If you are your company’s spokesperson and you wish to respond to enquiries, keep it brief and factual. Maintain focus on factual confirmation as opposed to narrative development.
• If your company wishes to publicly take a position beyond the facts (for example, commenting as an industry leader), we can help you to evaluate the risks of speaking out and, if you choose to proceed, to assist in ensuring that your communication resonates with your intended audience and achieves the desired impact.

The nature, scale, and speed of this conflict suggests that media attention is unlikely to drop for some time. For shipping, this means the story has yet to conclude – begging the question what will the public remember when looking back on this conflict? Will shipping be remembered as an industry that fell victim to a snap conflict between global powers? For operators pushing the limits to transport cargoes at any cost? Or will the maritime sector be recognised for taking decisive action to secure the safety of crews?

The answers to those questions will, largely, be defined by how professionally and strategically shipping companies can communicate in the days and weeks ahead.

If you need assistance with crisis communications or help to handle media attention, please contact us for support.