Maritime PR

Maritime’s PR weakness

Ben Pinnington’s new book, Making Waves: PR strategies to transform your maritime business, has just been published. The Polaris Media head writes for Maritime CEO on the takeaways from two recent high profile shipping moments in the media

Two torpedoes have slammed into the reputational hull of the maritime industry recently. The Ever Given Suez Canal crisis and the Black Trail TV documentary. Both exposed the PR weaknesses that are well known in the sector – organisations are not comfortable with the media, often do not understand or value PR and prefer a low profile. This approach is increasingly untenable in a media saturated world where social media has given everyone a voice.

When the nearly 400 metre long Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal in March it thrust maritime onto the front pages worldwide. It was a golden opportunity to champion the industry and grow understanding. But the aftermath saw a criticism in the maritime media of the ‘faceless’ response. While this was evidently a complex crisis for the PR teams to deal with, with different organisations and cultures involved, all the latest media training teaches you – you need to front up in a crisis. Organisations cannot tie PR teams hands behind their backs. Can you imagine a major global media crisis involving a Virgin plane and

“The decarbonisation agenda is taking maritime out of its bubble”