The Economist - UK (2022-05-07)

The Economist May 7th 2022 Culture 79

Shippingshenanigans

Lost at sea

T

heglobalshippingnetworkisoneof
capitalism’smostimpressiveachieve­
ments. Commercial vessels carry over
four­fifthsofworldtradeinphysicalmer­
chandise,muchofitluggedaroundinthe
morethan16,000containershipsandoil
tankersinservice.Yetasever­moreports
havebeenmovedawayfromcities,ship­
pinghasbecomeoneoftheleastvisible
enginesofthemoderneconomy.
It canalsobeamongtheshadiest,argue
MatthewCampbell andKit Chellel,two
journalists from Bloomberg. Based on
morethanfouryearsofreporting,their
taleofthefateoftheBrillanteVirtuosoex­
posesthedark,barnacle­encrustedgoings­
onbeneaththeindustry’swaterline.They
tella remarkablestoryaboutanunremark­
able ship, “fought over, picked apartin
court,and investigated by police, naval
forces,privatedetectivesandexpertswho
maketheirlivingboardingshipstolookfor
nearlyinvisibleclues”.Booksaboutmer­
chantshippingarerarelysogripping.
Thecentraleventistheboardingofthe
Brillante, anageingoiltanker,bypirates
claimingtorepresent“theauthorities”,as
theshipcrossestheGulfofAdeninJuly
2011.Theinterloperssetoffanexplosion
thatcausesa devastatingfire,thenflee.
DavidMockett, a Yemen­basedmari­
timesurveyorworkingfortheLloyd’sof
London insurance market, is sent to
inspectthebadlydamagedvessel,butis
left with more questionsthan answers.
Whywasthecrewsoquicktoletthepirates
onboard?Andwhydidthemaraudersstart
a fireanddisappearratherthanseizethe
shipanddemanda ransom?
Suspectinganinsurancescam,Mockett
beginstodigdeeper.Butwithinweekshe
iskilledby acarbomb.TwoBritishex­
detectiveshiredbytheinsurerstotakeup
theinvestigationencounterseveralobsta­
cles.Oneisa thicketofcorporatelayers,
commoninshipping,whichmakesithard
toidentifytheBrillante’s owner.Shellcom­
panies and flags of convenience allow
shipownerstotake“alloftheprofits,little
oftheaccountability”,saytheauthors.
Another problemistheinvestigators’
ownemployers.Lloyd’s,themainmarket
forinsuringlargecommercialrisks,hasa
historyofpayingout(atleastpartially)on
claimsbyshipownerssuspectedofscut­

tling their own vessels, rather than endur­

ing  long,  expensive  inquiries  and  litiga­

tion.  Another  reason  very  few  “accidents”

are fully investigated is that insurers worry

this will lead big shipowners to take their

business  elsewhere.  Better  to  cough  up,

say, half the ship’s value and move on.

Soegregiousisthis case, however, that

aftermuchtoingandfroing, the investiga­

tors are allowed to keep  digging.  They

identifyMarios“Super Mario” Iliopoulos, a

car­racingenthusiastand owner of a Greek

ferry service, as the Brillante’s  ultimate

owner.Whistleblowers  confirm  that  the

attackwasaninsurance  fraud;  one  needs

rescuingwhenhediscovers that a group of

bulky­lookingmenare  searching  for  his

house.A Greeklawyer representing the in­

surersreceivesdeaththreats and is beaten

upnearhisofficeinPiraeus.

InOctober2019,more  than  eight  years

aftertheBrillantewas set ablaze, the High

CourtinLondoneventually ruled that the

attackhadbeenfakedand that the “orches­

trator”oftheaudacious fraud was Mr Ilio­

poulos(whohasalways  denied  it).  But  it

wasanoddsortofvictory  for  the  under­

writers.MrIliopoulos  was  found  to  have

madea falseinsurance claim for $77m, but

thatdidnotcosthima penny since he was

notpartytothecase—which was between

theinsurersandoneof his lenders, Piraeus

Bank.Thebank,which  had  financed  the

purchaseoftheBrillante,  had  long  since

writtenofftheloan.Two months after Jus­

ticeNigelTearehanded down his 136­page

judgment, one ofMr  Iliopoulos’s  ferries

won“ShipoftheYear”  at  the  Lloyd’s  List

GreekShippingAwards.  He  accepted  the

prizeinperson,ata ceremony attended by

industrybigwigsandGreek politicians. 

Theprivate investigators  who  helped

uncoverthescamarguably came off worse

thanitsallegedperpetrator. One was even

forced to defend a criminal complaint after

an  associate  of  Mr  Iliopoulos  alleged

the  sleuth  had  illegally  tried  to  access  his

private  information.  The  insurers  with­

drew an offer to pay the investigator’s legal

bill,  leaving  him  heavily  out  of  pocket.

Mockett’s  widow  got  a  rum  deal,  too.  She

asked for compensation from the insurers,

who, she had been told, had spent $28m on

their own legal fees, but received nothing,

according to the authors.

The  sobering  lesson  of  the  Brillante

saga, they conclude, is that maritime fraud

is  profitable—and  even  if  those  behind  it

are  unlucky  enough  to  get  caught,  their

chances of ending up in prison, or even out

of  pocket,  are  slim.  The  story  illustrates

how the shipping industry “has the unique

attribute  of  being  utterly  integrated  with

the  world  economy  while  existingapart

from  it,  benefiting  from  its  infrastructure

while ignoring many of its rules.”n

Dead in the Water.By Matthew Campbell
and Kit Chellel. Portfolio; 288 pages; $27.
Atlantic Books; £18.99

Peril on the waves

AcampaigningJapanesefilm-maker

Caught on camera

M

inamata wasa sleepy little town on

Japan’s western island of Kyushu. But

in  the  early  1950s  eerie  things  began  hap­

pening  there.  Birds  flew  in  circles  and

plopped  into  the  sea.  Cats  “danced”,  as

locals  put  it,  as  if  in  agony.  Soon  people,

too, were losing their senses; some ended

up paralysed and bedridden. 

The town had fallen victim to one of the

worst  pollution  scandals  of  Japan’s  post­

war  boom.  A  neurological  disorder  was

named  after  it:  the  Minamata  disease.

Chisso  Corporation,  a  chemical  company,

had  released  wastewater  containing

methylmercury  into  the  bay;  the  govern­

ment failed to stop it. A Hollywood film of

2021, starring Johnny Depp as a photojour­

nalist  who  visited  in  the  1970s,  revived

memories  of  the  episode.  But  “Minamata

Mandala”,  a  six­hour  documentary  also

released last year, told the story best. “I re­

alised the situation was far from resolved,”

says Hara Kazuo, who spent 15 years shoot­

ing and five years editing the film. “I knew

somebody had to do something about it.”

Unfamiliar  as  his  name  may  be  in  the

West,  over  five  decades  the  76­year­old

film­maker  has  left  an  indelible  mark  on

the  documentary  form.  His  best­known

film is “The Emperor’s Naked Army March­

es On” (1987); it features Okuzaki Kenzo, an

anti­war  anarchist  who  once  pelted  the

emperor with pachinko balls. Mr Hara’s in­

terventionist style—in which he abandons

TOKYO

Hara Kazuo has chronicled Japan’s

changes and inspired other directors