triton - The Swedish Club

AGMThe future starts today

trito

nThe Swedish Club

No.2 | 2016

2016

PLUSLoss PreventionMarine Insurance CourseLegal FD&DClub Information

ContentsLeaderBe prepared............................................................................................................................3

AGM 2016Managing Director’s ReportThe future starts today ..................................................................................................4/5

PresentationsGood press ........................................................................................................................6Bad press ............................................................................................................................7Facing down the beast ......................................................................................................8

Panel DiscussionAre you ready? ............................................................................................................9 - 11

Keynote speechMikael Genberg: ...and now for something completely different ............................12/13

InterviewsPR isn’t news: Roger Harrabin, BBC News Environment Analyst ............................14/15Taming the social media dragon: Rob Grool, Vroon & Martin Baxendale, MTI ....16 - 18An unlikely partnership: Julian Bray, Tradewinds & Sean Moloney, Elaborate ......19 - 21

Out and about at the AGM ..........................................................22 - 27

Loss preventionEmergency Response Training ....................................................................................28/29The Swedish Club joins with partners to prevent anchor loss ........................................30

Marine Insurance CourseMarine Insurance explained................................................................................................31

Legal FD&DUK Supreme Court decides preliminary issue against owners ........................................32

Club InformationNotice board ........................................................................................................................33Out and about ..............................................................................................................34 - 36Staff news ......................................................................................................................37/38Calendar/Quiz......................................................................................................................39

The Swedish Club Triton is published three times a year and distributed free of charge. The Swedish Club Triton is an editoriallyindependent newsletter and opinions expressed by external contributors are not necessarily those of The Swedish Club. Articlesherein are not intended to provide legal advice and the Club does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or theirconsequences. For further information regarding any issue raised herein, please contact our head office in Gothenburg.

Production CoordinatorSusanne Blomstrand

PR ConsultantElaborate Communications Ltd

LayoutElaborate Communications Ltd

PrintPR Offset, Molndal 16084800B

Contact us:

[email protected]

© 2016 The Swedish Club Articles or extracts may be quoted provided thatThe Swedish Club is credited as the source.

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The Swedish Club

No.2 | 2016

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‘What can be done when the damage isdone’ was the theme for the paneldebate at Members’ Day preceding theAGM in June.

The media’s role in the aftermath of acasualty is constantly on the rise. Waysof reporting have developed rapidly.YouTube, smart phones and the like,mean reporting in real time. The timeframe for shaping a media response to ashipping casualty has reduced.

Is it possible to influence the media’sview once the incident has occurred? Isit possible to reach an understanding ofthe difficulties involved in a casualtyresponse effort when the weather andavailability of equipment are not on yourside? Perception is reality.

Interesting thoughts and reflectionswere presented by distinguished mediaprofessionals and other panel members.

It is a fact that society’s tolerance ofenvironmental damage is limited, not tosay minimal. It is also a fact thatwhoever is involved in the incident is the“bad guy” regardless of an impeccableperformance in the past. The accidenthappened, the damage is done, but youcan appear as a good citizen by takingcharge of events and consequences.

One problem we have is the blameculture. The public (read ‘politicians’)demands a scapegoat. Often the Masterand officer on the watch are sent to jail.And, of course, the company should bepunished. I learnt in law school that thelaw on damages is compensatory innature. Not here - to compensate andrestore is not good enough. Thewrongdoer should pay more.

There is no clear answer to the question“what can be done”. It depends verymuch on the features of the individual

incident. What we know can be donehowever is to be prepared and to train.One thing is for sure: when the ship hitsthe rock, things will move quickly.

The debate on “What can be done whenthe damage is done” is covered in thisedition of Triton, together with the otherfeatures and social activities of theAGM’s events in June. I hope you enjoyreading this issue.

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Be prepared

Lars RhodinManaging Director

Dear members and associates

LEADER

“We have a long history but take nothingfor granted,” said Lars Rhodin,welcoming members and guests to The Swedish Club’s 144th AnnualGeneral Meeting in Gothenburg on 16June.

As he started his speech he reflectedon the Club’s recent journey in terms ofweather patterns: 2008 – cloud with asilver lining; 2009 – the sun was out;2010 – more sun; 2011 – temporarycloud; 2012 – mixed weather; 2013 –sun again; 2014 – (and) sun again.Then of course, mixed weather in 2015.

Volatility on all frontsVolatility was the key word for TheSwedish Club, very much in contrastto 2014 and 2013. “But despite achallenging start and much higherclaims activity during the early part ofthe year, we worked to deliver abalanced underwriting result by itsend. We closed the year with anoverall combined ratio of 99%,assisted in part by the positivedevelopments of previous years.”

Overall, said Lars Rhodin, 2015will be remembered as both avolatile claims year and avolatile investment year, butset against a background ofsound underlying business,and stable development.

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AGM - MAnAGinG DiRECToR’S REpoRT

The futurestarts today

“2015 will beremembered asboth a volatileclaims year and avolatileinvestment year,but set against abackground ofsound underlyingbusiness, andstabledevelopment.”

Seven total losses in the first part of theyear included the Bulk Jupiter (Vietnam),the Cemfjord (Scotland), the Goodfaith(Greece) and the Troll Solutionconstruction jack-up.

Huge volatility on the investment sidetoo, led to a negative return on capital of-1.5%. This resulted in the Club finishingthe year with free reserves at US$183.12million – an overall deficit of aroundUS$3 million.

The Club’s assets remain split into 80%bonds and 20% equities.

Increasingly the talk is about return OFinvestment, as opposed to return ONinvestment, he said. “The message isclear: we cannot rely on handsomereturns from investments and we mustmaintain our focus on a balancedunderwriting performance.”

Business growthDuring the year, the Club grew its P&Ibusiness by 7% in tonnage and sawstable-to-increasing volumes in theMarine sector. An office was opened inLondon and the Club moved to newpremises in Norway.

This growth in P&I business is a realvote of confidence in the Club, said LarsRhodin. The volumes exceeded 44million GT owners’ entries and 66 millionGT charterers’ entries.

Pool claims were relatively modest forthe International Group in 2015, and ithas been successful in achievingsizeable reductions in reinsurance costsfor the policy year 2016/17. “The mutualrisk-taking model is still proving to bethe most efficient,” he said.

Loss preventionLoss prevention remains at the heart ofThe Swedish Club’s focus, includinganalysis of statistics and frequency, newloss prevention publications and hands-on advice. As part of that, the Club isstepping up the focus on its uniqueMaritime Resource Management (MRM)programme offered through TheSwedish Club Academy. This includescontinuing to offer members a 50%subsidy on MRM training for a period oftwo years.

Solvency IIMeanwhile, the entry into force of theSolvency II reporting requirements inJanuary 2016 has presented the Clubnot only with a huge body of work butalso the opportunity to reinforce itsapproach to risk, to demonstrate itsdisciplined and transparent approach,and to maintain a close dialogue with allof the relevant authorities, said LarsRhodin.

Past and presentAnd so, to the outlook. He quotedHeraclitus, from 500 BC: “There isnothing permanent except change” andfollowed that with Bob Dylan’s quote:“There is nothing so stable as change.”

The Swedish Club’s mission remains:“To be a leader in the internationalmarine insurance market and, on amutual basis, provide shipowners,charterers and shipmanagers with high-quality, cost-effective insurancesolutions and related services.”

He also shared the results of the Club’slatest member survey, which concludedthat 94.5% of members were eithersatisfied or very satisfied with the overallquality and performance of The SwedishClub as their insurance provider.

Lars Rhodin told members: “History isimportant for us because that gives usexperience and that is part of ourbranding – but it is very much about thefuture too. All we know is that the futurestarts today and we have to deliver at alltimes.”

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AGM - MAnAGinG DiRECToR’S REpoRT

94.5% %99PERCENTAGE OF MEMBERS WHO ARE SATISFIED ORVERY SATISFIED WITH THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OFTHE SWEDISH CLUB AS THEIR INSURANCE PROVIDER

performance Rating

“There is nothing permanent except change”

7%p&i BusinessGrowth

overallcombinedratio

Triton 1 2016 \ 6

When the Sea Empress ran aground inthe entrance to Milford Haven 20 yearsago, it became the UK’s third biggest oilspill and the media descended in force.

For Martin Baxendale, who had joinedthe crisis media response network MTIonly two weeks before, it was ‘quite anintroduction to the shipping industry’.What was the one thing he was asked tobring? A fax machine.

He outlined how MTI interacted with themedia and handled enquiries, and whathas changed in the past two decades.The days of fax machines have clearlygiven way to a world of social media andcitizen journalists, not to mention thewider media, and it is vital to have a planin place, he said.

“We are not masters of the crisis in thesesituations. Events by their very nature areextremely fast-moving and extremelyunpredictable – but you can take certainsteps. Events are not purely judged uponby what has happened but how youhandle them and how you protect yourreputation. A reputation takes manyyears to build and, if handled wrongly, itcan disappear in a flash.”

The Sea Empress is not remembered inthe same breath as the Braer, the TorreyCanyon, the Prestige or the Erika, hesaid. “It was a very serious incident andthere was a significant amount ofenvironmental damage but it could havebeen much, much worse.”

Speed of responseHow to control the situation? Speed ofresponse, he said. “I can’t emphasiseenough how important it is to reactquickly, within a matter of minutes – ifyou are not able to do that, you will beovertaken by the media. We had phonecalls within 30 minutes of the incidenthappening and journalists and photo-graphers arrived at the same time as theprofessional responders.

“If you haven’t thought about thesesituations before, then trying to dealwith the pressure of the media and lookafter the issue and the vessel and crew,and protect the environment, is almostimpossible. In this case the managerhad a plan in place beforehand and thiswas instrumental in helping to managethe media.”

Don’t shut downBecause there was a plan and traininghad been done, MTI was able to directhundreds of media calls to a dedicatedmedia centre and answer the questionsthe media wanted to ask. “If you can

provide efficient and coherent answersto media enquiries, the chances are theywill come back to you for information,”he explained. “If you shut down, don’t besurprised if your message doesn’t getout. If you don’t talk to the media andgive your side of the story, plenty ofothers will have a different side of thestory to you.”

A planned response should focus on‘one voice, one clear message,communicate with all parties, includingmedia, public, regulators, authorities,emergency service’, avoid infighting orconflict and ensure a united front.

“The art of good management isaccountability, responsibility, trans-parency. If you can get these thingsright, you stand a decent chance ofprotecting your reputation if an accidenthappens.

“Be prepared – think training, speed,resources and capability (one personcan’t do it alone), social media – andhave a plan in place so you can protectyour reputation and even emerge fromthe situation with your reputationstronger.”

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AGM - pRESEnTATionS

Good pressHow to maintainmedia control of a casualty

“The art of good management is accountability,responsibility, transparency. If you can get thesethings right, you stand a decent chance ofprotecting your reputation if an accident happens.”

Martin Baxendale,Managing Director of MTI Network

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Photos: G

eja Ku

iken

The Costa Concordia offered the world‘the classic four step scenario of a PRcrisis’, said Sean Moloney.

“With more than 4,000 people on boarda sinking vessel, with the tragic loss of32 lives we saw the feverish speculationstage when a story breaks; the unfoldingstage as events came into focus; theblame stage and finally the rebuildingstage, as both the brand and the sectorstarted to rebuild reputations.

“In the case of the Costa Concordia,however, the first three stages playedout to a watching world in the space ofonly 48 hours – uncontrolled and in fulltechnicolour.”

A life of its ownThe panic and confusion of the earlydays after the incident are hard to forget,said Sean Moloney. This was how tolose control of a casualty; this was astory allowed to take on a life of its own.

“Events and the media were controllingthe pace and direction of the story fromthe off. Events – in the guise of video,images and interviews – were flooding,unchecked into people’s homes via 24-hour news services with space to fill.Cabaret dancers recounted daringrescue efforts, passengers speculatedas to the Captain’s dining arrangementsand YouTube spilled with footage frommuster stations that certainly didn’t looklike any training material I’ve seen.

“In the absence of any informedcomment, the media were forced tosupplement this footage and fill thosefirst hours with self-proclaimed expertson the situation, both fuelling the crisisand providing a textbook lesson in self-promotion. But then can we blamethem? It’s obvious no one else wastalking. Not the cruise industry, not thecompany itself.”

Unexplained delayThe incident happened on a Fridayevening; yet a top crisis managementcompany was not called in until threedays later. “Why didn’t Carnival have acrisis management team in place? Aswe have heard from Martin Baxendale,

you can’t just pull a rabbit out of a hatand make everything OK.”

Sean Moloney described theundisciplined response on the ground inthose early hours, from the managementteams, the crew and the officers onboard, never mind the thousands ofpassengers at the centre of the story.

“Crew members were seen givingeyewitness accounts on TV usingphrases like ‘chaos’, ‘mayhem’ and ‘like ascene from Titanic’. Had anyone onboard had any media training at all?Were there any guidelines or contractualobligations that would have put a lid onsome of the worst excesses?”

Invisible managementThe top guns at Carnival simply didn’tseem to have any strategy at all, he said.They simply kept their heads down.Emergency contact numbers for familieswere not issued until noon the next day.

Lessons learned? “The Costa Concordiademonstrated the importance ofplanning and preparation, and thedifficulties of taking back a situationonce it is out of control.”

Bad pressHow to lose media control of a casualty

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AGM - pRESEnTATionS

“In the case of the CostaConcordia the first threestages played out to awatching world in the space ofonly 48 hours – uncontrolledand in full technicolour.”

Sean Moloney, Managing Director of Elaborate Communications Ltd.

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“Who is scared of lions?” opened RogerHarrabin, and he went on to describe themoment when he came face to face witha lion when working in Kenya recently.

Later (after the lion had walked away),he searched the web: what you shoulddo if you meet a lion? It is difficult tostop yourself from running away, butthat would promote an attack, he said.“It is vital to stand your ground; continuefacing the lion while clapping yourhands and shouting and waving to makeyourself look bigger. Hold your ground;never run and don’t turn your back.”

Who, he then asked, is nervous ofjournalists? The same advice applies……“Never run or turn your back, hold yourground.”

ProbabilitiesA risk assessment would conclude thatin the shipping industry there is a lowprobability of an accident, said RogerHarrabin. “Saying that, there was anextremely low probability of me seeing alion; but I saw a lion. It is low probabilitybut high impact.

“If you are ever involved in a seriouscasualty you will never recover – yourlife will never be the same again. Theworld will change for you when wordgets out - and believe me, word gets outvery quickly.”

A faster worldWhen he started out in his career, hesaid, a situation might unfold thus: dayone, trying to assess what went wrong;day two, how did things go wrong; daythree, apportioning blame; day four, howcan we make sure it never happensagain.

“All of these were stretched out. Nowthey are compressed, all happening atthe same time, in a massive,cataclysmic churn.”

What the media wantThe key ingredients of a news story are,he said, novelty, drama, personality andpictures. “For the media, a disaster is agood story. Our audiences are glued tothis stuff.”

And he warned: “The media is a kind ofself-appointed moral guardian. We wantto know who is to blame, from the

captain doing stupid activities to theowners way up the chain. We havebecome very good at tracking peopledown – for example, the senior manageron holiday.”

Preparation is keyHe advised companies to be preparedfor responding to a crisis, however lowthe probability.

“You need to have not just one persondoing the job, but a team of peopletrained. You will be expected to performaround the clock; you need people withan immense amount of stamina andpeople who aren’t too smooth.”

Get some media training, he urged.Talking to camera can be disconcertingand takes time to get used to. “When acameraman is pointing at you, it is quiteintimidating, so make sure you andseveral key people are used to speakingto the camera. And don’t expect sleep –you won’t get sleep for a long time.

“People are what interests us most. Wewant to know how many people onboard, who is missing and whatnationality, and why, how, when, whosefault. All these questions will comecascading in on you.”

Facing down thebeast

“If you are ever involved ina serious casualty you willnever recover – your lifewill never be the sameagain. The world willchange for you when wordgets out - and believe me,word gets out very quickly.”Roger Harrabin,Environment Analyst, BBC News

Photos: G

eja Ku

iken

ARE YOU READY?Moderator Julian Bray ofTradeWinds, was joined on theplatform by Martin Baxendale ofMTi network, Rob Grool of VroonGroup, Roger Harrabin of BBCnews, Sean Moloney of ElaborateCommunications and Lars Rhodinrepresenting The Swedish Club.

Be honest and believable … but don’t betoo smooth. Be wary of exercising toomuch PR control …and be realistic, notover-positive in your statements. In theevent of a casualty, shipowners andmanagers have a wobbly line to tread:was the the conclusion.

Rob Grool set the tone when he warnedthat in a crisis: “A lot of owners reallythink it will all go away if you ignore it.But be open, because someone will findout and some instant ‘expert’ will bethere. It could be a disgruntledemployee, or someone looking for anopportunity. The media doesn’t have tolook hard for them.”

He told the audience: “As a third partyshipmanager, you can be piggy in themiddle, between owner and charterers,or between owner and media. We quiteoften used to hear ‘You deal with it anddon’t let it get to my front door’.”

Useful adviceJulian Bray asked the panellists: whatadvice would you give to owners,operators and managers when dealingwith a situation?

MTI, the crisis media response network,deals with about 650 casualties a year,said Martin Baxendale. “But for probably400 of them we don’t issue anything atall. One-third, we start a response to. Itis very important to monitor what themedia is saying – you need to take ajudgment call.”

AGM - pAnEL DiSCuSSion

How prepared are you to be transparent and meet the demands of thepress? How should owners respond to the press at a time of crisis?

These were questions that stimulated some lively debate during this year’spanel session at the Club’s AGM.

“A lot of owners really think it will all goaway if you ignore it.”

Roger Harrabin was clear: “With theadvent of social media I think there are alot of accidents that are going to happenfrom now and into the future thatpreviously weren’t even visible, butcertainly will become visible. ‘In themiddle of nowhere’ will become ‘in themiddle of somewhere’.”

For example, if there was a loss becauseof liquefaction and the cargo had beenloaded in rainy conditions, it is very likelythat there would be some footage of theloading somewhere, thanks to socialmedia, he warned. You just need to find it.

The need for speedAll the panellists emphasised the speedat which news travels today, thanks tosocial media and instant communication.

Sean Moloney showed how things havechanged by reflecting on the time hespent covering the Braer disaster as aLloyd’s List journalist. “I rushed up toShetland with 400 other journalists. Wewere in the airport with one phone, andwere bussed up to the rock and tookpictures.”

Sadly oiled wildlife often provides the symbolic picture of such an incident,he said – but he then highlighted theirony: “With the Braer, three seals wereseen to die. One was old, one was oiledand one was run over by journalistscoming out of the pub.”

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“Journalists wantto speak to thepeople involved atthe heart of anyissue – peoplewho can explain inlanguage that isunderstandablebut also explainclearly, so you getthat personalfeel.”

“You need to thinkabout who in yourcompany is goingto be able to standup to a lot ofpressure and not betoo slick and notfoul up.”

Sean MoloneyElaborate Communications

Julian BrayEditor-in-Chief, TradeWinds

Martin BaxendaleMTI Network

Photos: G

eja Ku

iken

Don’t be too smoothAt the same time, however, there is adanger of exercising too much PRcontrol, said Julian Bray. “Journalistswant to speak to the people involved atthe heart of any issue – people whocan explain in language that isunderstandable but also explainclearly, so you get that personal feel.”

Martin Baxendale added: “It isn’t agood thing if the person being involvedis too smooth – which isn’t usually aproblem in the shipping industry! It isimportant that people come across ashonest and believable. We, as advisers,will not go on TV unless absolutelynecessary. It is more important thatowners and managers go on the TV. Itis your reputation and your vessel andyour crew – it should really be you oncamera.”

Roger Harrabin was unequivocal in hisview: “If a company puts on a PR man,it is an absolute sign that they havesomething to hide. You need to thinkabout who in your company is going tobe able to stand up to a lot of pressureand not be too slick and not foul up.”

The Swedish Club’s viewWhen asked by Julian Bray to sharethe views of The Swedish Club, LarsRhodin replied: “Our recommendationto owners is: be prepared, plan and inthe event of a casualty, there is noescape. Realise the fact that whateverimpeccable record you have in thepast, the good guy becomes the badguy. Be open, be transparent, don’tduck. Stand up, be available. But also,don’t promise too much. Be open andexplain you are taking this seriously

and doing the best to sort it out. Butdon’t be too positive in your pressreleases, either - you need humility.”

He concluded: “As underwriters, wehave to be prepared in the event thatour members don’t have that responsestructure. If the cause dictates, we willalways step up and work with ourmembers.”

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“Stand up, beavailable. But also,don’t promise toomuch. Be open andexplain you aretaking this seriouslyand doing the bestto sort it out.”

Rob Grool , Vroon Group

Roger HarrabinBBC News

Lars RhodinThe Swedish Club

In an inspiring, often hilariouspresentation, keynote speakerMikael Genberg challenged hisaudience to think, dream and actdifferently. How (and why) do youput a house on the moon? What isyour house on the moon? You canalways break down your ownboundaries, he insisted.

The artist and entrepreneur behind theproject to put an iconic Swedish redhouse with white corners on the moonswept the audience along as hedescribed his previous projects: a two-person red house hotel in an oak tree, anunderwater ‘reverse aquarium’ hotelroom off Pemba Island, Zanzibar, and aneight-seat café suspended five metresoff the ground.

“My target group is ten-year-olds. But weare all ten-year-olds inside and I wouldlike to bring forward the ten-year-old inall of us,” he said.

The importance of doingHe was at the AGM, he said, to talk about‘doing’. “We all do things – that is

basically what defines us. Sometimeswe even succeed in doing really, reallybad things and fail catastrophically. Andsometimes we achieve extraordinarythings that no one expects from us as agroup or as individuals.”

He listed as essential ingredients:courage, creativity and competence.

“Competence is, however, what youalready know, and what you have alreadylearned and established, so it won’tactually create the extraordinary.Creativity won’t always deliver …..a lot ofvisionaries together will just keep talkingtogether until they die. But add incourage – when the three things cometogether, we can achieve theextraordinary.”

Brilliant failures He described the Eiffel Tower as ‘thebiggest tribute in the world to themeaningless’. “Cultured people in Parishated the tower and Eiffel was close tobeing fired for coming up with this stupididea. They said it would be built for only20 years and then he would have to take

that rubbish down. Now it issynonymous with France and maybe thereason why Paris is the most visible cityin the world.

“Look at Sydney Opera House; it wassupposed to cost US$8 million but endedup costing US$102 million. People werevery angry at the time but I don’t think anyAustralian now thinks it cost one cent toomuch because it has become the biggestsynonym for Australia.”

The leaning tower of Pisa providedanother example of a ‘brilliant failure’.“They failed to check out how theground was underneath. According tohistory, the architect said ‘It doesn’tmatter, no one is ever going to notice it’.He was wrong and that was very goodfor Pisa – people gather there every day,they look at it leaning, then go and drinkwine, eat ice cream and buy millions ofeuros of ugly souvenirs.”

Courage to actWhy a Swedish red house with whitecorners on the moon? “It is such a stupidconcept, a childish concept, a house on

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AGM - KEYnoTE SpEECH

...and now forscompletely different“I have heard you are going to the moon............. t w m I

the moon to make the world a betterplace,” said Mikael Genberg.

The idea came to him in 1999, when heread that the Swedish Space Corp-oration was planning a satellite to belaunched into orbit around the moon. ASwedish house on the moon would be‘so poetic’, he thought.

“It wasn’t like I was taking it seriously. ButI couldn’t forget about it. So I did themost courageous thing I have done in mylife – picked up the phone and called thePR manager of the Swedish SpaceCorporation and said: ‘I have heard youare going to the moon. I would very muchlike to put a red house with white cornerson the moon and maybe I could join you.”

Unsurprisingly, there was laughter and hewas passed from person to person. But

finally, he was passed tosomeone who said: “Thatis the one of the mostinteresting things I haveheard for years. Thatwould put us on the map.”

He started looking forinvestors. “What happenswhen you come to someonewith an idea like this? It takesabout 20 minutes for the ten-year-old to come out. It wasstupid enough and big enough forpeople to be interested. We started toget money coming in.”

The project continues. As MikaelGenberg concluded: “Visions areworthless if you try to own them. Youhave to share them in order to have ithappen.”

AGM - KEYnoTE SpEECH

omething

....... I would very much like to put a red house with white corners on the moon and maybe I could join you.”

Mikael Genberg is a 53 year old Swedishartist and entrepreneur from Västerås,Sweden.

He began his career working with thetraditional art forms of sculpture andpainting, but over the past decade hasbroadened his repertoire, reaching theeyes of the world through developingamazing hotel and living projects. Theseinclude the Woodpecker treehouse hotelset 13 metres above a Swedish publicpark; the underwater hotel Utter Inn;Ooops! Hotel, seemingly half submergedin a lake; and an innovative hotelcomplex on Pemba island, in addition toputting a little red house on the EriccsonGlobe in Stockholm.

The Moonhouse ProjectMikael Genberg’s Moonhouse project is‘more than just an art project’. The aim,he says, is to inspire people to pushthrough mental barriers and broaden theirperception of what we can makepossible.

His dream moved forward relativelyquickly, with even NASA getting activelyinvolved, until 2009, when prioritieschanged after the downturn. However hehas recently had news of a new launchopportunity working with a privateChinese space venture.

Illustration: Sara Medina Lind

Photo: Geja Ku

iken

What would propel the internationalshipping industry on to our front pagesor into the television news headlines?The answer is, in the main, not the goodnews. It’s the bad news unfortunately.

“It is one of the brutal facts of life thatthe media is looking for stories – and ifeverything is going OK, then there simplyisn’t a story,” says Roger Harrabin, BBCNews Environment Analyst. “Shipping isvirtually invisible. It happens all the time– we know it happens but it is one ofthose invisible services.

“Docks tend to be closed off, peopledon’t get to harbours, they don’t see theships, so it is out of sight, out of mind.”

The average media is hardly coveringshipping, he says: “Unless there’s anincident and then it’s front page news.”

An invisible industryRoger Harrabin says the shippingindustry is invisible except in threescenarios:

• If there’s an accident, it suddenly becomes massive news.

• In terms of pollution issues – particularly attracting publicity when there are local pollution problems.

• Technology advances – but only to a relatively small extent.

“I once did a piece on the biggestcontainer ship in the world; it had lots ofenergy saving gadgets on it and lookedreally spectacular. If there wassomething else like that, it wouldcertainly get a little bit of coverage …”

If that’s how the national/internationalmedia view the shipping industry, howcould this be changed?

“I think the answer is, it is nobody’s faultand there is not much you can do aboutit,” he says honestly. “If you look at thecriteria of newsworthiness – novelty,drama, conflict, personality, pictures –shipping doesn’t really offer any of that

on a regular basis. It is something that isjust there. I guess if there was a radicalnew, super-safe design there mightpossibly be interest from specialistjournalists, but getting the mediainterested is really terribly difficult.”

Shipping isn’t aloneAt this point it’s probably worthemphasising that the shipping industryhasn’t been singled out as one to ignore!“There are all sorts of industries wedon’t report on, which get very agitatedwhen we report on them when it’ssomething bad. For example, wewouldn’t necessarily major in on the factthat UK chemical industries are

extremely safe in comparison with a lotaround the world; we don’t report on thatunless something happens.

“We don’t have a duty to make peopleinterested. If something you expect to

be OK is OK, it’s simply not a story. Itdoesn’t always have to be bad news forus to cover it, but it does have to benewsworthy, and a lot of normal life isn’tnewsworthy.”

Relationships areimportant

Cost-cutting across many areas of themedia industry hasn’t helped, either.There are fewer specialistcorrespondents in the national media,while the local newspaper sector –where it is generally much easier to getcoverage – has shrunk considerably.

HEADERAGM - inTERViEW

Roger Harrabin, BBC News Environment Analyst

How the national media views the shipping industry:the inside story

PR isn’t

Roger Harrabin, 61, has broadcast on environmental issues since the1980s and has won many awards in print, TV and radio.

He has been the BBC’s Environment Analyst for 12 years; this was apost created by the BBC so that he could work across all media. Hewas founder presenter of BBC Radio 4’s environment magazine‘Costing the Earth’

He co-wrote the BBC’s guidance on reporting on risk, which calls fornews instincts to be tempered by statistical perspective.

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“We don’t have a duty to makepeople interested. If somethingyou expect to be OK is OK, it’ssimply not a story. It doesn’talways have to be bad news for usto cover it, but it does have to benewsworthy, and a lot of normallife isn’t newsworthy.”

news

Roger Harrabin says: “Shipowners or theirrepresentatives should have a good relationshipwith their local paper. But beyond that, we arelooking for innovation, novelty, improvements intechnology - an unmanned vessel for example.”

Of course, journalists have the instinct for a greatstory – and that also means tackling an issuefrom what they see as a ‘newsworthy’ angle. “I’mafraid that we are more interested in shippingbeing blamed for introducing an exotic speciessomewhere, rather than the fact shipping is tryingto clean up a problem that most people won’thave heard about anyway …” he concludesruefully.

In short, says Roger Harrabin: PR isn’t news.

Photo: Geja Ku

iken

Taming the social mediadragon

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HEADER

Facebook, Twitter,instagram, YouTube – love itor hate it, it’s all out thereand it’s not going to go away.ignore social media at yourperil. We interviewed MartinBaxendale and Rob Grool,both offering very differentperspectives on socialmedia.

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The pace of changeIgnore social media at your peril? RobGrool, Director, Fleet Management, atVroon Group agrees, reflecting on some ofthe casualties and resulting mediacoverage he has seen over the years.

In the early 1990s, he reports, respondersbrought in after a minor incidentcollected and assembled equipmentready for action, only to discover that theyhad parked the materials on a culturallysensitive site. “This was dealt with locally– all parties agreed ami-cably and thatwas the end of things - it was still theearly days of media attention and therewere no cameras or mobile phones.”

In the next case, a fully laden tanker hit arock, which ripped the hull, leaving it indanger of sinking. “Cooperation from theauthorities and from the oil company wasabsolutely nil. We had to find a lighteringship and stabilise the tanker. Then wecarried out a scan and found that therewas actually a new rock in an area thatwas declared safe on the charts.Suddenly, when the spotlight bouncedback onto the authorities they couldn’tcooperate quickly enough.”

Fast forward to a tanker that recently ranaground on soft mud in a port’s entrancechannel. This was a minor incident but, asa result, the boiler needed to be started totransfer cargo and ballast - a routine task“As boiler smoke was emitted a commuterferry passed and the passengers wereconvinced it was a major incident - ‘click,click’ - it was on YouTube and all over theplace before Lloyd’s Casualty Service evenknew about it. The speed wasunbelievable. There is no controlling that,absolutely none, so you had better betransparent.”

Everyone is a journalistSocial media makes everyone a potential‘journalist’ or source of information – andthat includes employees. Some might bedisgruntled or malicious but in most casesit’s a lack of education and guidance,agrees Martin Baxendale, MD of MaritimeTechnical International (MTI) Ltd.

“It is important to remember that from aseafarer’s perspective and company’sperspective, we shouldn’t see social

media just in negative terms,” he says. “Itis a fantastic tool, particularly for peoplewho are away from friends and lovedones; being able to communicate withpeople half a world away is great.

“But it does come with someresponsibility. We have seen instanceswhere it has been used in a negative way– often not maliciously but due perhaps toinexperience or lack of guidance that canget people out of their depth and intotrouble. The key thing we emphasis timeand again, is to give seafarers someguidance. Give them an insight andboundaries so they know how to use thesethings responsibly and understand what isappropriate and what is not.”

In a worst case example, a few years agoa crew member lost his life in anexplosion on a chemical tanker. Within acouple of hours, another member of thecrew had posted pictures on Facebook ofthe damage onboard.

“Luckily we saw the images and hadthem taken down. When we explained tothe crew member the risk of the sea-farer’s loved ones seeing those picturesbefore the company could offer supportand inform them officially, he wasmortified. A lot of mistakes are simplythoughtless or careless.”

AwarenessHave a social media policy in place but,more effective, try to think of innovativeways to educate employees and makethem aware of the issues, he says. Forexample, a film of crew partying on boardcan come back to haunt you if that vesselis ever, ever involved in an incident. Evenprimary school children are having socialmedia training these days, he says. “Iheard about a teacher who provided alarge sheet of paper and a tin of paint andsaid to the children: have fun, splasharound. Then, when they had done so, theteacher said: now can you put the paintback into the pot? And of course, theycouldn’t.”

Employees need to realise that whateveryou put on the Internet is there forever,says Rob Grool. “If a film of crew drinkingbeer is posted, it could be used in a verynegative way even if they weren’t on dutyat the time the photo was taken.”

However, he believes social media is notso very different to the ‘old days’. “Theyused to say it took a whole village to raisea child, because the whole populationknew what was happening. That wassocial control. These are different times,different ways – but it is still socialcontrol.”

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“it is important to remember that from aseafarer’s perspective and company’sperspective, we shouldn’t see socialmedia just in negative terms.”

Rob Grool

Rob Grool is Director, Fleet Management, at VroonGroup, based in the Netherlands. He started his careerwith Vroon in the 1980s and returned there in 2015.Vroon operates and manages a diverse fleet of around200 vessels, including livestock carriers, offshoresupport vessels, offshore wind turbineinstallation/maintenance vessels, dry cargo vessels,container ships, product/chemical tankers, bitumentankers and car carriers.

A Director of The Swedish Club since 2003, Rob Grool previously served as Presidentof Fleet Management at Seaspan Ship Management based in Vancouver. Beforethat, he was Managing Director of Wallem Group in Hong Kong, after serving asJoint Managing Director of Hanseatic Shipping Co. in Cyprus.

He has been quoted as saying: “People and ships = problems”

A team approachThere is another aspect to all of this: themore time seafarers spend online, theless time they spend together. The riskis that the team does not communicatewith each other and so can postmisleading information due tothoughtlessness or even a grudge.

The question is – how can a crew onboard be brought together to act as ateam?

An onboard ‘cyber café’ is one way toharness the media says Rob Grool. “Itmeans at least they can sit together andplay games on their laptops. Peopleneed a social life on board and you haveto engineer it. For example, if people arenot encouraged to eat together atmealtimes, they go into their cabinsalone. They don’t engage with othercrew members – leading to a cycle ofdisengagement – it’s chicken-and-egg.”

Martin Baxendale adds: “Many believethat people can become insular if socialmedia is used too much. Where thewhole crew would once havesat down in the messroom and watched a

film together, now everyone is goingback to their cabins and logging on –with no communication there is nocommunity on board.

“Also, anecdotally, there is the issue ofpeople spending their off-duty timeusing social media too much – thencoming back on duty after they shouldhave been resting, but they have beenusing social media and only had acouple of hours’ sleep.”

Actions haveconsequencesOnshore or on board, there’s anotherfeature of social media. “People neversay to each other face-to-face or in aletter the sort of stuff they will sayor do on social media,” saysMartin Baxendale.“For some reason,that mental filteron what yousay and

how you behave seems to switch offwhen people use social media. You needto educate people and make themrealise that their actions haveconsequences.”

But to turn this around, how can ashipowner use social media as part ofits own response in a crisis? “The onlything you can do is have active socialmedia engagement. How far a companygoes to engage with people on socialmedia does vary. Some do it a lot, butthere are still a lot of companies thatquite understandably say ‘we are a B2Bbusiness, we do our job professionallyand safely and we don’t go aroundshouting about it’.

“However, if you don’t engage then it ismuch harder to protect your reputation ifsomething goes wrong.”

The dragon tamed MTI often uses social media as a veryeffective way of getting the messageout, he says. “Years ago we werediligently writing press releases. But in afast-moving, high-profile story, socialmedia is often the best way tocommunicate with media and public.You can read a statement on cameraand post a link to it, on Twitter orFacebook or whatever platform you areusing, and people can go and see thatdirectly. It really is an effective way toget your side of the story out.”

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Martin Baxendale

Martin Baxendale is the Managing Director of MaritimeTechnical International (MTI) Ltd., a leading maritimecrisis management PR firm. After working for a City-based advertising and public relations agency, he joinedthe MTI Network’s London office in 1998. During histime with MTI, Martin has overseen traditional publicrelations projects, as well as working extensively onincident response and reputation managementprogrammes.

He has advised on a number of high-profile media incidents, as well as a wide rangeof pre-emptive strategic programmes. He is also closely involved in MTI’s varioustraining programmes.

“When uS Airways Flight 1549 landed inthe Hudson River, a passenger on apassing ferry tweeted – and within 11minutes of the crash he was beinginterviewed live on Cnn. it’s incrediblyquick and you can’t control it.”

When you are following a dramaticnews story and the journalistreports that a central participanthas ‘refused to comment’, it’s onlyhuman nature to assume thatsomebody has something to hide.

In reality of course, that’s notalways the case – very often thecause is fear of the press, or a lackof preparedness. In this article, weask Julian Bray, Editor-in-Chief ofTradeWinds, and Sean Moloney,Managing Director of ElaborateCommunications, to consider:“What does the shipping industryneed to do better in its day-to-dayengagement with the press?”

There has always been tension betweenthe shipping press and the industry, saysJulian Bray. “That is often based on anassumption that they are on differentsides – but they are not. The shippingpress does have a role to play as a criticand commentator but it is also centrallyreporting on what is going on in theindustry – companies, people, theirviews and strategies – to give peopleinsights into how they might run theircompanies better.”

Engagement is an assetIt is easy to say the shipping industryshould be more open, but that is notreally the issue for individual companiesor executives, he says. “We know that itis all about what message they want toget across, and the impression theywant to give customers, lenders,employees and the wider world. Andyou have to remember, this isn’t justabout reporting for one constituency.With digital access the shipping presscan be read by everyone - all yourstakeholders - so the ability to engagewith the press is an asset, and if you doit well, you will benefit.”

Sean Moloney agrees – the first thing,he says, is to acknowledge the presenceof the press and the role that the pressplays.

“It plays an important role but theimmediate reaction is often one of fear,of something you don’t know orunderstand. But this can be a two-wayrelationship. The press are after storiesbut equally it’s an opportunity for you tomake sure the right message is outthere for the market to read about, andthat can be beneficial for you. It’s anopportunity to educate and explain howa company, sector or industry isperforming and/or dealing with aparticular situation.”

Be up frontWhile the shipping industry may be moreused to dealing with the shipping pressthan mainstream press, journalists don’thave to have specialist qualifications in aparticular subject in order to cover it,emphasises Julian Bray. “If they ask a

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an unlikely partnership?The shipping press and the industry:

“With digital access the shippingpress can be read by everyone - allyour stakeholders - so the ability toengage with the press is an asset,and if you do it well, you will benefit.”

straightforward question, they deserve astraightforward answer; often the argu-ments and conflict with the press arisebecause the industry or a companyhasn’t given a direct, clear answer. Evenwhen that answer has to be ‘sorry, wecan’t say anything’, it is the clarity andcandour of the message that is critical.”

Remember, journalists – whetherspecialists or generalists – are notthere to be people’s friends, says JulianBray. “They are there to do a job, toreport what they see and what themarket is seeing. Clearly there is a bigdifference between public and privatecompanies – at one end of that scalethere is the obligation to speak publicly,while at the other end there is a com-plete lack of obligation. However, thereare times when it is in people’s self-interest to communicate because itwould be damaging not to.”

No one in shipping needs to be reminded that thisis an industry full of private chat, uncorroboratedspeculation, comment and rumour, he points out.“As journalists, we hear a significant slice of thatand we have to make a call on whether it isright, wrong or somewhere in the middle. Bysimply never responding to any questionabout speculation or comment, even whenyou know it to be basically correct, youcan seriously undermine confidencein your company or organisation.

“And if you are seenultimately to have beendeceitful, it doesn’tdemonstrateparticularly goodleadership andshows at worstthat you can’t betrusted.”

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Julian Bray

Tradewinds

“Here’s the danger of the ‘no comment’ approach....journalists can be surprisingly well informed – thanks tothe web, a staggering amount of information can begleaned very quickly. Organisationsneed to understand that andrealise they have to live inthat world.”

Julian Bray studied geological scienceat the University of Manchester beforeembarking on a career as a businessjournalist, with particularspecialisation in the shipping,insurance and energy markets.

He helped to found TradeWinds in1990 and has also worked for Reutersand for Lloyd’s List, where he wasEditor from 1998 to 2008.

Julian Bray returned to TradeWinds as Executive Editor in 2008, and wasappointed Editor-in-Chief in 2011. His opinion as an expertcommentator is regularly sought by radio and television.

Relationships take timeTake time to build a constructiverelationship, he advises. “You can have arelationship where you can guidejournalists as to whether things are rightor wrong, without necessarily beingnamed. Journalists don’t have powers ofsecond sight – they can only work withthe information they are able to gain.”

And here’s the danger of the ‘nocomment’ approach. Any journalistworth their salt can piece together quitea lot of information quite quickly, andthat’s even more so in this digital age.“They can be surprisingly well informed– thanks to the web, a staggeringamount of information can be gleanedvery quickly. Organisations need tounderstand that and realise they have tolive in that world.”

Sean Moloney says: “Don’t befrightened of having a relationship withthe press. You have to understand howthe press works. People tend to gettheir fingers burned if somethinghappens and an unfavourable storyappears that they don’t like. But you can have a relationship with a journalistor publication where there is anelement of trust. If it’s a big story, the

press are not going to go away – butthis is where you can benefit from thatrelationship by making your owncontribution to the story, and that canbe very important.”

Expert engagementHe puts articles into three categories:sensationalist, reactive and analytical.“It’s the last category that you can reallymake work for you,” he says. “The pressmay be writing about strategy or policyin a specific area and want to talk to youas an expert about what you do and whyyou are good at it. It’s a greatopportunity to get your message acrossand at the same time provide thejournalist with newsworthy content. It’sabout understanding the differencebetween types of story and engaging inthe right way so that both parties getwhat they want.”

Managing a PR agencyMany businesses employ the services ofa PR agency, which can guidecompanies through the media maze, hesays. “It can be worrying or confusingand you can be tempted to shy away

from building a relationship with thepress, but a PR specialist can help.”

Julian Bray agrees that PR support canbe valuable as a buffer and for providingexperience but warns: “Ultimately it isabout your character and whether youcan give real confidence in what you aredoing. In a crisis in particular, you needto be prepared to speak when you can –a critical part of that is not simplyrelying on a slick PR machine to handleeverything.

“Above all, appreciate just how muchunofficial information is out there, hencethe risk of allowing a false picture tobuild up. And if something hashappened, don’t think that by putting outa sanitised press release that will be theend of the story.”

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And finally, somesnippets of advice fromJulian Bray:● There is the danger of going over thetop, of being seen in public too much.“I could name some company headswho are at risk of devaluing the qualityand feel of what they are saying bysaying it too often and too loudly. Ifyou want journalists to report withintelligence about the things yourcompany or organisation is doing,then you need to take them seriously –and part of that is about notbombarding them with press releasesabout any old rubbish. You need tobrief journalists in an intelligent wayabout the issues that really matter.”

● Use social media in ways that areappropriate for your position. “And forgoodness sake, don’t do anythingstupid. Every week someone doessomething spectacularly foolish onsocial media where you would expectthem to be a little bit more mature andresponsible.”

● No one can make you say what youfeel you don’t want to say, especially ifyou are a private company. “But thereare times when you do have to saysomething and you have to speakhonestly and clearly. If you alreadyhave a relationship with a fewjournalists, that can be a major assetin making sure your message getsover, whether in a crisis or in a moreconstructive time.”

Sean Moloney has more than 30years’ experience in the internationalmaritime publishing field. He isManaging Director of the maritimepublishing and public relationsbusiness Elaborate Communications,Editorial Director of the shippingindustry’s leading owning and

management magazine, ShipManagement International, andPublisher of The Ship Suppliermagazine. He is also a Director ofShipping Innovation Ltd and aDirector of Maritime UK, theindustry/government think tank.

A regular visitor and contributor atglobal maritime conferences andevents, Sean Moloney is the brainsbehind the highly successful LondonInternational Shipping Week.

Sean MoloneyElaborate Communications

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ouT AnD ABouT AT THE AGM

The Swedish Club Mutual Football Cup, 15 JuneThird win in a row for Team TSC in a thrilling game, which kicked off the Annual General Meeting 2016.

In true traditional style The Swedish Club AGM programme began with a football match between Team International: playersfrom the Club’s international members and associates, and Team Sweden; players from The Swedish Club.

Both guests and the Club’s staff gathered to support theteams as they played their 17th AGM match at Hedenfootball field in the centre of Gothenburg – and what amatch. Both teams played attacking football and the scoreheld at 2-2 until the last minute when Team Sweden scoredto end the match 3-2.

Well done to all the players.

Find more photos in Out and About at www.swedishclub.com

Photos: The Swedish Club

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Early Arrivals Dinner – at Lindholmen Event & Nöjen, 15 JuneThe traditional seafood buffet was on the table whenmore than 250 guests and Swedish Club staff gathered ata historic shipyard warehouse for the Early ArrivalsDinner. Great entertainment by the Jamladies guaranteeda cheerful and convivial evening, a great lead-in to theAGM Conference the next day.

Mingling at the shipyard warehouse

The Jamladies on stage

Martin Terrell of WK Webster, Singapore withwife Linda enjoying the entertainment

Managing Director Lars Rhodin and Jan Risinger ofFairwater Marine AB, Stockholm proposed a toast andperformed a traditional Swedish "schnapps song"

Frida Wåhlin,The Swedish Club and DonMessick of Independent MaritimeConsulting, Southport, USA

From left: Guan Ruihong of Hong Kong HaiBao Shipping, HK, Mrs Su Lin and Su Zhongyiof Erasmus Shipinvest, Greece

Brian D. Starer of Squire, Patton, Boggs,New York with wife Cheryl

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A trip back in timeThis year’s Partner’s Programme wentback in time to learn more about how toinfluence the brain’s chemistry, structureand plasticity.

At Skårs Gård, the group learnt the trickof how to influence the brain’s chemistryusing simple everyday tips and a passionfor life and good food.

After lunch the group continued toÄskhult Village, a genuine 18th centuryvillage environment consisting of fourfarms, with buildings dating from early1600 to mid- 1850. They were guidedthrough a picturesque park andintroduced to churning butter. The Äskhult Village, about 50 km south of Gothenburg

The group gathered for a photo before today's trip back in time

Lunch at Skårs Gård. From left: Moyfrid Felecian-Midttun, Norway, KatarinaThorsen, The Swedish Club, Tanya Dimitrova, Bulgaria andTherese Engström, Sweden

Jacqui Beesley, Hong Kong trying to churn butter

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Anders Källsson – guest of honourAnders Källsson of Erik Thun AB was guest ofhonour at this year’s AGM dinner. He is TheSwedish Club’s longest-serving board member,having been on the board for 26 years.

With more than 70 years of Club membership,Erik Thun AB, entered its first steamship, the“Läckö, in 1944, and now has 40 vesselsinsured with the Club.

Photos: G

eja Ku

iken

A welcome traditionLars Rhodin welcomed members and business colleagues toThe Swedish Club’s 144th AGM dinner held in the Banquet Hallat the Elite Park Avenue Hotel. More than 250 guests enjoyedthe traditional menu of salmon, white asparagus and freshstrawberries.

Lennart Simonsson gave a short speech and proposed a toastto The Swedish Club.


Anders Leissner, The Swedish Club together with Fred Cheng, Shinyo International Group, Tokyo

From left: George Kourousias and Elli-Anna Kourousia of J.P. SamartzisMaritime Enterprises, Athens together with Philippos Fragos ofNational Insurance Brokers, Piraeus with wife Anastasia Petraki

Centre: Diamantis Manos, Costamare Shipping Company S.A. and AimiliaTomasevski, Greece enjoying the entertainment during the dinner

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The entertainment for the evening was a group ofyoung singers from the ‘Star for Life project’performing with the Swedish band Triple & Touch,made up of the duo Göran Rudbo and KenWennerholm.

The project is an educational/motivationalprogramme, aimed at strengthening the self-esteemof young people so they are better equipped to realisetheir dreams. The programme is being run in around120 schools in South Africa and Namibia. Read moreabout the project at www.starforlife.org

The Swedish Club Board of Directors, 16 June 2016

Standing: Elisabeth Rydén, Anders Källsson, Jakob Osvald, Anders Leissner, Sumate Thanthuwanit, Lars Rhodin, Lim Sim Keat, Rob Grool, Fred Cheng, GustafGrönberg and Michael Vinnen. Sitting: Idil Baran Sualp, Diamantis Manos, John Coustas, Lennart Simonsson, Khalid Hashim, Demetri Dragazis, Michael Bodouroglouand Peter Claesson. Not present: Lars Höglund, Anders Boman, Chen Xiang, Andonis Lemos, Weng Yi and Li Zhen.

Photos: G

eja Ku

iken


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From catamarans to containerships

An insight into building the M32 catamaran awaited members andbusiness partners joining the Club for the Friday networking event.

The first stop was the Aston Harald factory on the island of Hönölocated in the northern part of the Gothenburg archipelago. Visitorswere treated to an insight into M32 racing, Aston Harald’smanagement of sail racing events and the cutting edge technologythat goes into construction of the M32 catamaran.

A traditional lunch was served at the Tullhuset restaurant with aview overlooking Vinga lighthouse. The group then boarded the M/SNya Skärgården, where on the way back to Gothenburg it had theunique opportunity to contrast the beauty of nature in thearchipelago with the tremendous feats of engineering to be seen inthe Gothenburg docks.


Enjoying the sun: from left Mrs Su Lin,Greece, Maria Yiassa, The Swedish ClubGreece, Elizabeth Breton, Gen Re, Hartfordand Alicia Montañes, Muñoz & MontañesAbogados, Valencia

M/S Nya SkärgårdenLunch at restaurant Tullhuset

no matter how careful and safetyoriented a shipowner, a potentiallycatastrophic incident can happen atany time. Everyone likes to believethat they are prepared should anemergency arise, but how can shipoperators be sure that they have theright procedures and practices inplace to deal with such a situationeffectively? An emergency responseplan should be in place, andindividual elements of the plan canbe tested, but such a plan stands orfalls on the way those elementsinteract and support one anothershould a crisis occur.

”When an accident takes place, you turnto the emergency plan, but have youtested that it works? On paper it maylook fine - however, reality is often adifferent matter,” explains Lars A. Malm,Director, Strategic Business Development& Client Relations. “We need to simulatethat reality, and so have developed, andare now piloting a new EmergencyResponse Training initiative to help youbecome better at emergencies beforethey happen.”

There is an ISM requirement for acompany to carry out drills under ISMpart A, rule 8, Emergency Preparedness,he explains. “We believe that the training

we have developed will support and buildupon this requirement, and have atangible effect on improving thepreparedness of an organisation.

“Of course it is an immense job – acompany cannot hope to set up such ascenario for themselves. The Club’sEmergency Response Training creates arealistic scenario where a vessel suffersa serious accident and then the Clubclosely monitors how this emergency isdealt with by both the vessel operatorand the underwriter.”

So how exactly will it work? TheSwedish Club’s loss prevention teamis currently piloting a programme ofcomplimentary scenarios withmembers: visiting a vessel andpresenting a prepared incidentwhich tests how cover is affected,who is responsible for which actionduring an emergency, anddemonstrating how the Club canassist a member as they acton the emergency planand ISM.

“This will give youtime to adjustareas that didn’twork as well asplanned, before anaccident happens,”says Lars.

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EmergencyResponse Training

By Lars A. Malm, Director, Strategic Business Development& Client Relations

“The Club’s Emergency ResponseTraining creates a realistic scenariowhere a vessel suffers a seriousaccident and then the Club closelymonitors how this emergency is dealtwith by both the vessel operator andthe underwriter.”

The Club can create a variety ofscenarios:

• Grounding and wreck removal• Cargo damage• Salvage and pollution• Collision• Tendering and repair• Forum shopping, legal and medical scenarios

Lars Malm explains: “Should an incidentbecome a reality there is no doubt thatan organisation that has been proactivein testing its established emergencyplans, and made the most of the Club’sexpertise and guidance, will see a bigdifference in the way a real life incidentis handled – in terms of saving lives,protecting the environment andminimising costs in many areas.

There is also a plan to offer these scenarios to non-members. “This willprovide us with the perfect opportunityto demonstrate both how proactiveThe Swedish Club is, and thecommitment and expertise we bring tothe support of our members in bothgood times and bad.”

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LoSS pREVEnTion

“Should an incident become a reality there is no doubtthat an organisation that has been proactive in testing itsestablished emergency plans, and made the most of theClub’s expertise and guidance, will see a big difference inthe way a real life incident is handled.”

Example scenarioIn the case of a catastrophic collision it can be difficult toknow what areas to focus on as a priority. In a collisionscenario The Swedish Club will cover:

• Salvage• General Average• Personal injury• Medical evacuation• Pollution• Media response• Gathering evidence• Documentation• Instructions to the crew• How the accident affects your insurance• How to get the most from the Club• Advice on how to handle a catastrophic accident

Do you think your organisation would benefit froma complimentary Emergency Response Trainingsession?

if so, contact The Swedish Club’s Loss preventionteam today. [email protected]

LoSS pREVEnTion

The Swedish Club joined DNV GL and Gardearlier this year in a major initiative designed toreduce anchor losses. The root cause of manygroundings and collisions; lost anchors areamong the top five reasons for claims costs.

The rising number of anchor losses reportedover the last several years prompted the threeorganisations to take action and investigatethis issue. Based on an analysis of damagecases involving anchor and anchor chainlosses, the project partners produced atraining presentation and video identifying themost frequent technical and operationalcauses, and detailing preventative steps thatcrews and operators can take to addressthem.

One of the key findings of the investigationwas the need for officers and crew to beaware of the environmental loads theirequipment is designed for. If these limits arenot taken account of in shipboard anchoringprocedures, there can be significant damageto the vessel – even beyond the loss ofanchor and chain. Many anchor losses areavoidable, if the proper maintenance andhandling procedures are adhered to.

While operationally, every anchoring operationis unique, in practice, the crew and officersstill need to be aware of the risks and assessthem thoroughly, especially in heavy weather.In almost half of the cases studied, the groupsaw that environmental risk factors, such asthe weather, strength of the currents andwater depth, played a significant role in theloss. As with every other operation, shippingcompanies should make sure that proceduresfor safe anchoring operations are imple-mented in their safety management systems.

Anchor and chain loss can often lead tocollisions and grounding, which can result inadditional damage to a vessel. In addition, theincreasingly common requirement from portauthorities that lost anchors are recoveredwill add significantly to the costs of anyincident.

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The Swedish Club joins withpartners to prevent anchor loss

Further information, including the Anchor Awareness video, can be found atwww.swedishclub.com/loss-prevention/anchor-loss

MARinE inSuRAnCE CouRSE 2016

Delegates from all areas of the marineinsurance industry met to learn moreabout key aspects of marine insurance,looking in detail at both the practical andlegal aspects of the profession. Parti-cipants were provided with knowledgeand skills that could be taken back intothe workplace - ranging from the legalimplications of terms and conditions, tothe practical handling of claims and lossprevention.

This year saw once again a recordnumber of members attending, and thisyear’s participants ranged from thosenew to the industry, to veterans withmore than a decade of experience withinthe business.

Delegates represented the Club’sinterests around the world, joining thecourse from the UK, Germany,Netherlands, P.R. of China, France,

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By Marina Smyth Samsjö, Marketing Communications Manager

Marine insuranceexplained

once again the Club extended a hand to theinsurance industry; sharing its in-depthexperience with insurance professionals atthe latest Marine insurance Course, whichtook place at the Club’s head office inGothenburg in May.

“The course provides an excellent opportunity forpeople working for shipowners, shipmanagersand marine insurance brokers to improve theirknowledge of marine insurance”

Hong Kong, Iran, Norway, Canada,Greece, Singapore, Turkey – and ofcourse, Sweden.

The course provides an excellentopportunity for people working forshipowners, shipmanagers and marineinsurance brokers to improve theirknowledge of marine insurance, to learnmore about what The Swedish Club canoffer and also enhance theirprofessional network.

Marine insurance Course participants 2016

Workshop discussions: from left: Dennis Johanssonof Wallenius Marine Stockholm, San Win of WalleniusMarine Singapore and Ebru Ural Sari of Zenith GemiIsletmeciligi, Turkey

On 11 May 2016 the UK Supreme Courtfinally settled a point of law of greatimportance to the shipping community.

The owners of the Res Cogitans haddisputed their obligation to pay a OWBunker invoice on the basis that thebunker contract was subject to the UKSale of Goods Act 1979, and thereforeOW Bunker, including their assignee INGBank, being the contractual supplier,could not claim payment since theynever had had title to the bunkers when“selling” them.

The Supreme Court dismissed thisargument, in line with the lower courts’

decisions. The owners’ argument may ata glance seem far-fetched not to saydisingenuous had it not been for theprevailing circumstances.

OW Bunker had gone bankrupt due tospeculative trading activities leavingdebts to physical bunker suppliers inexcess of US$1 billion. As a result,physical suppliers claim payment fromvessel owners for bunkers suppliedunder OW Bunker contracts, whichresulted in duplicate claims againstowners. The decision by the SupremeCourt means that, under English law,owners cannot rely on the UK Sale ofGood Act to resolve that problem.

Notably, however, the owners of the ResCogitans had not paid the physicalsuppliers for the bunkers, nor didowners adduce any information that thephysical suppliers had taken any formalsteps to pursue their claim.

The decision by the Supreme Courtarguably makes sense from a legalperspective although it obviously doesnot assist owners facing duplicateclaims in relation to bunker stems.

The Club has provided some usefulguidance how to mitigate risks in relationto the purchase of bunkers in ourMember Alert of 7 December 2015.

LEGAL/FD&D

32 / Triton 2 2016

Legal update

Leading OW Bunker case finally decided:By Anders Leissner, Director, Corporate Legal & FD&D

The Swedish Club is handling about 40FD&D cases involving bunker invoicesworth in excess of US$20 million formembers facing duplicate claims fromOW Bunker / ING Bank on the onehand, and physical suppliers on theother hand. It could be said that thejust solution would be to pay the

physical supplier, being the party outof pocket.

However, one can also say that if aphysical supplier agrees to sellbunkers through an intermediary theymust accept the consequences ofsuch a decision, follow the contractual

chain and launch their claim in the OWBunker bankruptcy proceedings likeany other debtor. The basis for thedirect action against vessels is derivedfrom the rather ancient right of amaritime lien in the vessel for unpaidbunkers, which may not sit very welltoday’s contractual arrangements.

UK Supreme Court decidespreliminary issue against owners

notice boardCLuB inFoRMATion

Triton 2 2016 \ 33

On 1 July 2016, SOLAS Regulation IV/2 was amended with new requirements regarding container weights targetedprimarily at shippers and charterers. The amendments are expected to have great significance to the containertrade and require that all containers have a verified weight certificate before being loaded on to a ship.

The intention is to reduce the number of accidents at sea which are caused by wrongly declared container weights.

Mandatory container weight verification

York Antwerp Rules 2016 adopted by the ComiteMaritime international Following four years of consultation and an extensivereview by a Comite Maritime International (CMI)International Working Group (IWG), the York AntwerpRules (YAR) 2016 were adopted by the CMI Assembly atits conference in New York in early May.

The YAR are a codification of the rules of general average,the maritime principle that specifies that all partiesinvolved in a sea venture must proportionately share anylosses that result from sacrifices made to save theremainder.

The adoption of the YAR 2016 brings to an end 12 yearsof uncertainty following the adoption of the problematicYAR 2004, which did not have the support of shipowners,and which were, consequently, very rarely used inpreference to the well-established and well understoodYAR 1994.

The development and finalisation of the YAR 2016 is theproduct of an extensive review undertaken by the IWG,

with input from the International Group, the internationalaverage adjusting community, National Maritime LawAssociations, the International Chamber of Shipping,BIMCO and IUMI amongst others.

The most contentious areas of the YAR 2004 have beensatisfactorily addressed in the YAR 2016, notably inrelation to;

• The treatment for adjusting purposes of salvage remuneration (Rule VI)• Expenses (Rule X) at ports of refuge • The treatment of temporary repairs (Rule XIV)• The exclusion of low value cargo (Rule XVII) • The provisions relating to Commission and Interest (Rules XX and XXI)

Full details of these provisions can be found in P&ICircular 2618/2016, which can be found atwww.swedishclub.com/news-circulars/circulars/p-and-i-circulars/

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34 / Triton 2 2016

out and about

Greek shipowners and industry leaders mingled at this year’s Member’s Lunchat the historic Marine Club in Piraeus. Area Manager Hans Filipsson greetedthe guests and Managing Director Lars Rhodin shared a sneak preview of thetheme for the 2016 Club AGM.

A family atmosphere at the Club lunch in Piraeus

SCOLSwedish Club onLineGet 24 hour access to your:

Insurance documents•Claims•Records•Advanced frequency analysis•

From left to right: Tord Nilsson, The Swedish Club;Anna Kountouriotou, Oceanbulk Maritime S.A. andChristos Anagnostou, Oceanbulk Maritime S.A.

Isidoros Caroussis, Chios Navigation; Daisy Kairis,Kairis Brothers Shipping Co. Ltd. and MenelaosPangalos, Chios Navigation

Nektarios Katikas of Erasmus Shipinvest B.V. andJohn Owen, Senior Consultant, The Swedish Club

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Triton 2 2016 \ 35

A record team of 35 Club members, businesspartners and staff took part in this year’sGothenburg Half Marathon in support of TheSwedish Sea Rescue Society. Cheered on by acrowd of more than 200,000 spectators and thesound of musical performers lining the route, thewhole team completed the course, many puttingin personal bests. We are delighted that so manyof our business partners joined us for thisfantastic run.

Since its beginnings in 1980 with 1,800participants, the race is now one of the largest inthe world and since its inception has had overone million registered runners.

The next race will take place in Gothenburg on 20 May 2017.

www.goteborgsvarvet.se

We would like to take this opportunity to thank allof The Swedish Club Team who made a donationto The Swedish Sea Rescue Society.

Marathon team runs the Gothenburg Half Marathon

From left: Lars Rhodin, Tilmann Kauffeld and Martyn Hughes from The Swedish Clubprepared for the race.

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36 / Triton 2 2016

Managing Director Lars Rhodin and Jacob Vierø, AreaManager at Team Gothenburg, welcomed all guestswho took the opportunity to meet and mingle with TheSwedish Club’s staff, colleagues and businesspartners in Istanbul earlier this year.

This Club event is highly appreciated by members, asit is a valuable occasion for discussing and sharingbusiness knowledge in a relaxed environment.

We thank everyone who could participate and we willcertainly aim for another event next year.

A well-attended and interactive Club event in Istanbul

Popular seminars in Hamburg and Bremen In April this year, The Swedish Club again hosted its traditionaland popular seminars in both Hamburg and Bremen formembers and business associates.

Managing Director Lars Rhodin reflected on the 2015 insuranceyear and the Club’s Loss Prevention team spoke about the newEmergency Response Training, the latest report into main enginedamage, and worked through an interesting case study.

In total, almost 200 members of the German shippingcommunity made the most of the opportunity to network, andbuild on their relationships with The Swedish Club and its teamof underwriters, claims handlers and managers.

Hamburg: from left Michael Eden, Sandra Bahls andMattias Kreutzfeldt of Marlow Ship Management

From left: Gerd Ley and Erwin Flathmannof Shclüssel Reederei KG, Bremen

From left: Capt Erbil Özkaya, Ya-Sa Shipping, Ozgur Asik, IRI Istanbul Ltd, Mehmet Kayhan,Ya-Sa Shipping Industry and Trading SA and Ahmet Can Bozkurt of Omur Marine Ltd

From left: Nigel Russell, RFIB Group Ltd, SuayUmut (former Board of Director at The SwedishClub) and Capt Enver Bilgi, Zenith GemiIsletmeciligi

From left: Erol Ardaman of Densan ShippingCo., Lars A. Malm, The Swedish Club andÜlkem Gürdeniz of Omni Ltd

From left: Maria Berndtsson, The SwedishClub, Idil Baran Sualp, CerBa Group ofCompanies and M. Fehmi Ülgener of ÜlgenerLegal Consultants Law Office

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Triton 2 2016 \ 37

Malin Högberg, Claims Executive, P&I and FD&D, TeamGothenburg, was recently awarded the Swedish Maritime LawAssociation’s first ever scholarship for young lawyers.

The prize is an invitation to participate in the InternationalConference of the Comité Maritime International (CMI), whichthis year took place in New York City in May. The CMIconference is an important event in the legal calendar,attracting senior maritime lawyers and key industry playersfrom around the world, offering the opportunity to meet andshare knowledge and experience and shaping developmentsat the cutting edge of modern shipping law.

The scholarship was set up by the Swedish Maritime LawAssociation (Swedish MLA) to encourage young professionalsto play a more active role in the development of new maritimelaws. It is open to young Swedish shipping-oriented lawyers in

the early stages of their career, who are members of theSwedish MLA and have a keen interest in maritime law and afuture commitment to the CMI.

With the Club’s support, Malin applied for the funding and waschosen by the Swedish MLA to take part in the delegationalong with Jörgen Almelöv (Partner at Setterwalls law firm andChairman of the Swedish MLA), Måns Jacobsson (formerdirector of the IOPC fund), Paula Bäckdén (Postgraduate atthe Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law and AssistingAverage Adjuster of Sweden) and Mikaela Dahlman-Tamm(Senior Legal Adviser at Insurance Sweden).

Malin’s background, before joining The Swedish Club in 2012,includes both an LLM in Maritime Law from the University ofOslo, an LLM in Law from the University of Gothenburg and aDeck Officer Class VII certificate from Chalmers University.Her interest in the maritime field began much earlier when shestarted sailing traditionally rigged sail training vessels at 13years old. She attended Öckerö Sailing Upper Secondary from15 to 18 and sailed for several years on traditionally rigged sailtraining vessels and smaller passenger vessels as an AB and,eventually, on sailing vessels, as Chief Officer.

Held in conjunction with the Maritime Law Association of theUnited States’ (MLAUS) AGM and attended by more than 600maritime lawyers from around the world, the mainachievement of this year’s conference was the adoption of anew set of York Antwerp Rules (YAR 2016) along with non-binding Guidelines on General Average (see p.33).

Malin Högberg awardedSwedish Maritime LawAssociation’s 2016scholarship for younglawyers

Malin Högberg and Jörgen Almelöv, Chairman Swedish MLA

Left to right: Joe Walsh, Partner, Clyde & Co, Malin Högberg, Prof. Dr. DieterSchwampe, Partner, Dabelstein & Passehl

Staff news

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38 / Triton 2 2016

Birgitta Hed, Senior Claims Manager at The Swedish Club, has beenelected Chair of the International Group Personal Injury Sub Committee(PISC), at a meeting held at the Secretariat in London on 14 April.

The PISC is one of more than 20 sub committees established by theInternational Group which provide forums for mutual cooperation in areasof common interest between the clubs on topics such as the impact oflegislation, contractual terms and general developments in shipping. Itfocuses on liability for personal injury and encompasses a number ofworking groups.

Birgitta is a member of the Philippine Working Group within the PISC,which monitors procedural and legislative developments in thePhilippines.

The ultimate aim of the various International Group sub committees is toserve the interest of the mutual shipping community insured by clubs inthe International Group by making a tangible contribution to lossprevention.

Birgitta Hed Elected Chair of theInternational Group’s PersonalInjury Sub Committee

Team Gothenburg

Kristoffer LindqvistKristoffer has been appointed Underwriter inTeam Gothenburg as from 1 August 2016.

Team Asia

Jonathan JiJonathan joined the Club’s Hong Kong office on1 August 2016 as Claims Executive. He holdsan LL.M. in International Commercial andBusiness Law from the University of EastAnglia, UK. He previously worked for Skuld inSingapore.

CLuB inFoRMATion

Marine Insurance CourseSharing Knowledge“I learnt a lot and already feel more confident in my day-to-day job activities.”

Get the opportunity to meet our staff and updateyour knowledge within the Marine Industry.

1 – What did RMS stand for beforeTitanic’s name? 1 Royal Marine ShipX Royal Motorised Ship 2 Royal Mail Ship

2 - Which company owns the first ship totransit the new Panama Canal? 1 MSCX Cosco CS2 ooCL

3 – What is the Morse code for SOS?1 .-.-.-.-.- X ---…---2 …---…

Mail your answer to [email protected] first correct answer pulled out of the hat will win a prize.

Club quiz winner 1-2016

Congratulations to winner of Club Quiz No 1-2016, Kostas Pallaris, SeatankersManagement Company Ltd, Limassol, Cyprus,who has been awarded a Club give-away.

The right answers to Club Quiz No 3-2015 are:

2. 70% (How much of the world’s surface is covered by ocean?)2. A landau (Which of the following are not for sailing in?)2. 11 (How many Academy Awards did the motion picture Titanic win?)

Club Quiz Club CalendarSummer 2016

Cocktail ReceptionLondon

27 Sept

Cocktail ReceptionOslo5 oct

Board MeetingOslo6 oct

Board MeetingBangkok8 Dec

Marine insurance Seminar (MiS)Piraeus14-16 nov

Winter LunchGothenburg28 nov

Lucia DinnerPiraeus15 Dec

Marine insurance Seminar (MiS)Zhuhai (PRC)9-10 nov

For further upcoming events, please refer to www.swedishclub.com

The Swedish Club is a mutual marineinsurance company, owned and controlledby its members. The Club writes Protection& Indemnity, Freight, Demurrage & Defence,Charterers’ Liability, Hull & Machinery, WarRisks, Loss of Hire insurance and anyadditional insurance required byshipowners. The Club also writes Hull &Machinery, War Risks and Loss of Hire forMobile Offshore Units and FPSOs.

Follow us

Head Office GothenburgVisiting address: Gullbergs Strandgata 6, 411 04GothenburgPostal address: P.O. Box 171, SE-401 22 Gothenburg, SwedenTel: +46 31 638 400, Fax: +46 31 156 711E-mail: [email protected]: +46 31 151 328

Piraeus5th Floor, 87 Akti Miaouli, 185 38 Piraeus, GreeceTel: +30 211 120 8400, Fax: +30 210 452 5957E-mail: [email protected]: +30 6944 530 856

Hong KongSuite 6306, Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong KongTel: +852 2598 6238, Fax: +852 2845 9203E-mail: [email protected]: +852 2598 6464

Tokyo2-14, 3 Chome, Oshima, Kawasaki-Ku Kawasaki,Kanagawa 210-0834, JapanTel: +81 44 222 0082, Fax: +81 44 222 0145E-mail: [email protected]: +81 44 222 0082

OsloDyna Brygge 9, Tjuvholmen N-0252 Oslo, NorwayTel: +47 9828 1822, Mobile: +47 9058 6725E-mail: [email protected]: +46 31 151 328

LondonNew London House, 6 London StreetLondon, EC3R 7LP, United KingdomTel: +46 31 638 400, Fax: +46 31 156 711E-mail: [email protected]: +46 31 151 328

Contacts

www.swedishclub.com

triton - The Swedish Club

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