Communications in a Crisis

In the course of our work, the team at Navigate Response see a lot of pictures and videos taken at sea circulating on social media. These pictures capture everything from birthday parties to the devastating shockwave from the explosion in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon.

In some instances, the photos are specifically of things, such as damage to the vessel, that the poster almost certainly knows the company’s social media policy would not allow them to post (but they’ve done so anyway). In many cases, the pictures were taken and shared with good intentions, but inadvertently reveal a lot more than the poster realises. Better media and social media training for seafarers could help prevent such missteps.

The English adage that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ points to where things go wrong – most people don’t ‘proofread’ every one of those thousand words before sharing.

Before sharing any photo, always ask yourself, “other than the intended subject, what else can be seen?” For example, pictures have inadvertently revealed voyage plan details with commercial sensitives or made public the private personal information of seafarers on a crew list visible on a desk – including birth dates and passport numbers.

Pictures have revealed bridge system passwords taped to the edge of the ECDIS display, and perhaps most commonly, revealed safety procedures not being followed which could jeopardise future charters and appear as evidence in a court.

Photos shared ’anonymously’ have included company logos and distinguishing markings that made it easy to identify the ship, the company and the not-so-anonymous-anymore poster.

Educate not eradicate

Of course, our industry is not alone with these problems, but that’s no excuse. Some within our industry suggest that the solution is to stop anyone from ever posting a picture taken on board. This is both impractical and not the best long-term approach for our industry.

We encourage people serving at sea to share images and videos, but to do it with care. It helps raise awareness of our industry, attract a new generation of seafarers, show pride in the company and maintain critical connections with loved ones on shore.

However, we must all be better at vetting photos before we post them. Think about what a photo might reveal which is confidential, embarrassing or a security risk.

Before you post a picture, take a careful look. Here are some key things to consider:

• Any visible written materials including bulletin boards, computer screens, documents and post-it notes.
• Faces – always ask for consent from colleagues whose faces are shown (even if only in the background).
• Identifying markings (especially logos).
• Reflective surfaces. Reflections often aren’t obvious, but can show what is behind the camera and reveal things that should not be shared.

Sounds easy, and it is, but it’s not always obvious.

Learning from other’s mistakes

The deputy director of emergency response for a small state recently revealed his email passwords, and the Dutch Defence Minister revealed the access codes for a ’confidential‘ video conference of EU defence ministers by posting pictures that showed a little more than they realised.

Those people won’t make the same mistake again. Hands on experience is the best way to avoid making such mistakes. Navigate Response’s highly interactive online course for seafarers, ‘The Media Social Media and You’, teaches participants to evaluate and address potential risks in their social media posts (not just pictures) before posting.

Dealing with people who intentionally post content that they know they should not post will always be a challenge, but a little effective awareness-raising is all that’s required to avoid many of the problems that are created innocently by social media posts.

Find out more

Navigate Response is a leading global crisis communications network providing reputation management services and media response training for the international shipping, port and offshore industries. To find out more about the services they offer, contact enquiries@navigateresponse.com or T: + 44 (0)20 3326 8451.

Member Benefit

North has an agreement with Navigate Response Limited to offer our Members a 20% discount on the first year of their Crisis Media Response Service which covers:

• Planning & Preparation
• 24/7 x 365 Incident Response
• Media Training

See our website or ask your usual contact at North for further details.

By Dustin Eno – Navigate Response