US embassy cable - 04ISTANBUL1821

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, Istanbul 
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