MEETING WITH KAPTANOGLU SHIPPING COMPANY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001821 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR INL/C/CP-MCAWTHORNE, EB/TRA/OTP-DHAYWOOD AND EUR/SE DEPT PASS TRANSPORTATION DEPT ROME FOR ICE ROTTERDAM FOR LCDR MBEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EWWT CVIS ETRD PREL KFRD TU SUBJECT: MEETING WITH KAPTANOGLU SHIPPING COMPANY REF: A. STATE 258406 ¶B. ANKARA 6764 ¶C. ANKARA 6789 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please Handle Accordingly. This cable was coordinated with Embassy Ankara ¶1. (SBU) P/E Chief and Consular Section Chief met on December 7 with H. Ismail Kaptanoglu Ship Management and Trading Company Managing Director Sadan Kaptanoglu and other company executives to review Coast Guard security concerns and possible action against the company. While reiterating that the company had not received the Coast Guard's September 30 warning letter until it was transmitted by the Foreign Ministry last week, Kaptanoglu stressed that the company understands the gravity of the situation, will fully implement the Coast Guard's requirements, and is "brainstorming" to determine other ways in which it can reduce the number of absconders and deserters leaving its ships. She indicated that the company will prepare and send a letter to the Coast Guard to this effect on December 7. Clearly adding to the company's new found sense of urgency is concern over the planned call by a company vessel-- the H Cenk Kaptanoglu-- to Corpus Christi on December 20. ¶2. (SBU) Kaptanoglu was joined by her Deputy General Manager, Muhsin Divan, her operations manager, Tansel Karademir, and the company's security officer, Raif Soylerkaya. All expressed embarrassment about the company's current predicament, noting that the third generation company, which controls nearly 10 percent of Turkey's merchant marine, has been in business for over 100 years. She noted that prior to the current series of exchanges through the Foreign Ministry, the company had been preparing a letter to the Coast Guard regarding the H Hasan Yardim incident, which she described as a real blow to the company because it had sought to have the appropriate security measures in place for the vessel's arrival in Baltimore. She explained, however, that a delay in processing of the guards in the port resulted in their not reaching the vessel until after it had berthed, by which time a number of seamen had slipped away. ¶3. (SBU) Kaptanoglu and her colleagues attributed the desertion and absconding problem to Turkey's economic problems, and also to the fact that it is difficult to find good seamen (and officers) in Turkey. They had difficulty, however, in explaining why the problem has affected Kaptanoglu ships more than other vessels from Turkey, other than to speculate that because Kaptanoglu vessels engage in time-chartering rather than regular liner service, the pressures on crew members are more intense. They noted that they have sought to build profiles of deserters to guide them in future crewing decisions, but this has not been helpful (half of those who jumped ship were married with children, half single). They have also sought bonds and guarantees from sailors and their relatives (and are now pursuing the four November cases in Turkish court),but that this has also been ineffective. In response to Consular Chief's observation that a pattern of absconding and deserting from Kaptanoglu ships (with seven incidents in 15 port calls over a two year period) could give rise to the impression that someone inside the company was acting as a facilitator, Kaptanoglu said she has had the same thought and is reviewing the company's crewing operation to ensure that this is not the case. ¶4. (SBU) As a last resort, Kaptanoglu indicated that she is examining the possibility of solving the problem by reflagging the company's ships and using non-Turkish crews, but that she hopes to exhaust other measures first. Her father (AK Deputy and Maritime Chamber Managing Council Head, Cengiz Kaptanoglu) and her uncle (who heads the Turkish Shipowners' Association) would strongly resist such a move, she predicted. Currently the company intends to contract with a single protective agency in the United States that will handle all security related issues related to Kaptanoglu's port calls. Up to now, Kaptanoglu has worked with multiple agencies, which has resulted in coordination problems. That company would ensure that armed guards meet the vessel in a timely fashion on December 20 and that they carry out all the measures required in the September 30 letter. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Kaptanoglu is clearly now seized with the gravity of our security concerns, and aware of the impact proposed measures will have on company operations. Ms. Kaptanoglu promised that a letter to the Coast Guard outlining company actions would be dispatched within 24 hours, and stressed that the company will fully abide by Coast Guard requirements. End Comment. ARNETT