Leaving the parley to experts

NEGOTIATING the release of crews and ships after a hijacking can be complex and fraught and best left to specialists, most people involved argue.
Firms such as the UK’s Control Risks and the American ASI Global have established themselves as the leaders in not only negotiating but also in providing security advice and training.
Not surprisingly, their services are not cheap and have, again unsurprisingly, attracted criticism as they seek to maximise their income from the daily fees they charge by prolonging the negotiations.
Mark Harris of ASI Global, which describes itself as “response consultant” and was formed in May 2007 with some former Control Risks staff, says there are “very few” who handle negotiations.

Crisis management
“We are not the Hollywood version,” he said. The firm, now part of the US Medex Global Group, has taken part in eight hijack incidents – six last year and two in 2007 – all of which were concluded with the safe release of ship and crew.
Success for Mr Harris is also measured by the duration of the incident.
“The longer it goes on, the more you pay,” he said.
That also increases the stress on the crew and can lead to claims against the shipowner of failing to discharge their ‘duty of care’.
Duty of care is also stressed as an important issue by Jeroen Meijer of Control Risks. He says it is a “message a lot of owners have taken to heart”.
Previously, shipping’s crisis response had been built around what Mr Meijer, a former Dutch naval officer and now the company’s vice president and “national policy leader, crisis management consulting”, calls “spike” incidents – those of relatively short duration – whereas hijacks can see ships and their crews held for several weeks or months.

Ownership
“The important thing is crew welfare,” Mr Meijer said.
“In this case the asset [the ship] is safe, so it’s about the people. The company has to be asking itself, ‘Are we doing everything we can for the crew?’”
The more experienced security consultants have earned their spurs in other industries like aviation and the oil and gas sector.
Shipping has similarities with these in the degree of multiplicity of nationalities – ownership, management and personnel, for example – but Mr Meijer says the extra factor of the ship’s flag, often different from the nationality of owner or manager or any of the crew, makes it “pretty unique”.
That nationality multiplicity means the negotiators have a more complex web of people to deal with – from diplomats to the far-flung families of crews.
Mr Harris says his firm “reaches out” to diplomats to get them (not literally) on board, “telling them you are doing everything possible and so avoiding a ruckus in the media”.

Released
Control of information is a key factor for the negotiators, but it is difficult when crew members may have mobile phones or pirates use them and the ship’s satellite phone to contact the outside world, including media and families.
Crews may make frantic calls home at the time of a hijack, but pirates usually confiscate their mobiles only to give them back so crew can make calls at their behest to put pressure on the negotiators.
Pat Adamson of MTI Network, the shipping media crisis consultancy that has handled 14 hijacks, says the pirates can threaten the crews to make the calls but often do not need to as it is in the seafarer’s interest to be released sooner rather than later.

Families
Mr Adamson adds that pirates might persuasively say: “You have already been here x weeks and it could be another x weeks and we are running out of food, water and diesel for the generator.”
Keeping families informed of the progress of talks is also the advice of both security and media consultants.
Nigel Noakes, security consultant with BIMCO, says a good company will have a crisis management plan that includes dealing with families.
He cites as an example Denmark’s Clipper Group for the way it handled the hijack of the Bahamas-flag multi-purpose vessel CEC Future with her crew of 11 Russians, one Georgian and an Estonian, taken in November last year and released after 71 days.

Released
Not only did the company put out updates on its website in both Russian and English, but it also published letters of appreciation to the Russian Navy and one to itself from the Georgian embassy in Copenhagen, as well as comments on piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
The security firms also advise shore management on how best to avoid hijacks, what to do when one happens and how to debrief and counsel crew after they have been released.
“We have somebody go on board as soon as possible [after release] and start counselling and we will debrief crews,” Mr Harris said.
Mr Noakes says a lesson from battlefield casualties is that it is vital to come to terms with a problem as soon as possible, but adds that a ship might spend days at sea after being released before the crew come ashore and in one case went all the way to Singapore.
In such cases, Mr Noakes adds, masters, if trained, can lead the crew – gathering them together to talk about the incident – but admits not everybody will want to talk.