Communicating
Effectively for Oil
Spill Incidents
navigateresponse.com

February 2024

2N AV I G AT E R E S P O N S E▪ 24/7 x 365 emergency advice, counsel & response▪ Hands on support at the client’s office or on the scene▪ Full media handling & reputation management services▪ Social media monitoring & engagement▪ Internal communications support▪ Drills, training, exercises & planning

3

GLOBAL NETWORKPREDICTING MEDIA INTERESTIs the situation highly visible?

Does the incident connect to a larger
story?

Could people (beyond immediatestakeholders) feel “impacted”?

Are there recognisable names involved?

5EVER GIVEN

6ON BEHALF OF THE MANAGER AND P&I CLUB▪ 26 media statements▪ 11 Q&As▪ A media enquiry every four minutes (24/7)▪ 100+ “suggestions” from the public▪ Millions of social media posts (possibly billions)▪ 5 months of near daily workP U B L I C P E R C E P T I O N O F R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y. . .
OBSERVER = 1
VICTIM = 2

Minimal responsibility•••

Natural disaster
TerrorSabotage•••

COMPLICIT = 3

GUILTY = 4

More responsibility

Large responsibility

Accidents (failure to prevent)Accusations of unacceptablecorporate behaviour
Technical errors•••

Known issues not addressed
Organisational malfeasance/crime/non-compliance
Stakeholders put in danger due tomanagement decisions

8T H E R E P U TAT I O N R I S K E Q U AT I O N

Risk toreputation

Perceived
Responsibility

Situation
Severity

Perception ofgreed

What could be done----------------------------What is being done

9FRAMING THE ISSUEWhich frame will people view your company through?

Cyber attack

Careless andreckless – it’s
their own fault

Brave victim ofa malicious
crime

Important to be first – the first frame usually sticks!

10T H E R E C E N T AT TA C K O N T H E I M O“The interruption of web-based services wascaused by a sophisticated cyber-attack against
the Organization’s IT systems that overcame
robust security measures in place.”https://imo-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/imo-web-services-update-02102020

11T H E R E C E N T AT TA C K O N C M A C G M

After initially claiming the company’s
booking system was disabled by ‘aninternal IT infrastructure issue’, CMA
CGM has now confirmed it was hit
with a ransomware attack.
28 September 2020
https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL113404
4/CMA-CGM-confirms-ransomware-attack

12

THE OBJECTIVES OF CRISIS COMMS?
▪ Protect reputations▪ Comply with disclosure obligations▪ Keep people safe
▪ Maintain stakeholder relationships▪ Do the “right” thing▪ Mitigate litigation▪ Etc. Etc. Etc.

13HOW WE WORK – RESPONDING▪ Personnel mobilised▪ Initial press
to scene, if required
statement
drafted▪ Update Statement▪ NR connects▪ Media and Social▪ Coordinate withwith journalists
Media monitoring
third parties▪ NR issues statement tofollowing
begins▪ Preparemedia
briefing
Spokesperson▪ Fields inbound
Major▪ Press
journalist enquiries
conferenceIncident▪ Statement on website
and social media▪ NR notified using 24/7
incident line
▪ Staff reminded to divert
media enquiries▪ Initial press
statement
approved▪ Switch phone lines
to NR▪ Provide incident updates▪ Select a spokesperson▪ PressconferenceW H E N ( A N D H O W ) A S TO RY B R E A K S
Coverage levels first 60 days after incident
1009080706050403020100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

FireCyber attack

Legal case

15T H E F I R S T S TAT E M E N TMedia Statement
EVER GIVEN – grounding in Suez Canal
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) is responding to a grounding incident involving its
managed containership EVER GIVEN (IMO: 9709257) which occurred at about 05:40 UTC
on 23 March 2021 in the Suez Canal as the vessel was en route to Rotterdam, Netherlands.

All crew are safe and accounted for. There have been no reports of injuries or pollution.
BSM has made the necessary notifications to the relevant authorities and interested parties.
More information will be provided when there are material developments.

-ENDS-16

HOW INTERACTIVE?
SilentReactive

Proactive▪ No quotable phrase▪ Avoids drawing
unnecessary attention▪ Establishes goodrelationships▪ Involves almost noresource input▪ No control of narrative▪ Doesn’t promote coverage ▪ Shows action(in the short term)▪ Keeps the details correct▪ Minimal work for those(mostly)
involved (at first)▪ Defines the narrative** Must always be ready to pivot to proactive at a moment’s notice.

17

MAURITIUS 2020

18

PERU 2022

19

WEBSITE INFO20

F I R S T R E S P O N S E F R O M T H E C O M PA N I E S

21F I R S T R E S P O N S E F R O M T H E C O M PA N I E S
90% ofMauritians speaka French dialect

22

WHICH AUDIENCE?

From left, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. Managing Executive Officer Masanori Kato, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. Representative Director
Akihiko Ono, and Nagashiki Shipping CEO Kiyoaki Nagashiki bow during a press conference in Tokyo.

23

24

JUST HOW BIG?

“What began as a spill of 0.16
barrels of oil, as reported byRepsol… had three days later seensome 6,000 barrels… By the end ofthe month, the Peruvian authorities
were reckoning with a majordisaster, estimating that more than
11,00 barrels of oil had been spilled”

25

GAS ON THE FIRE

Who Is Responsible for the 27-MileOil Spill in Peru?
“signs of becoming an international controversy, with theinitial narrative of events beginning to look more and moreSpeculative”

26

E S S E N T I A L S TO S U C C E S S▪ Frame the narrative and then keep control of it▪ Show empathy – this isn’t just impacting you▪ Provide frequent updates▪ Manage expectations – under promise and over deliver▪ Avoid jargon, but share some details – it makes you look transparent

F O U R T H I N G S TO H AV E I N P L A C E I N A D VA N C E

Have a plan and asimple template

Establish and savesome media contacts

Train and exercise

Have capacity support(external resources)

28

THANK YOU!
Dustin Eno
dustin.eno@navigateresponse.com