Ever Given freed: Quantum of compensation still wrapped in secrecy

( 4 minutes read)

·        Egypt has finally decided to free, Ever Given, the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March

·        Over 3 months have passed since the incident. The ship was held back under the direction from the economic court of Ismailia of Egypt

·        Cairo had initially claimed US$916 million as compensation

·        Later, it reduced the claim to US$600 million and then pruned down to US$550 million

Egypt has finally decided to free, Ever Given, the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March. Over 3 months have passed since the incident. The ship was held back under the direction of the economic court of Ismailia of Egypt.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will hold a ceremony in Ismailia, where its headquarters are located to celebrate  the signing of the agreement and the departure of the ship. The release of the ship was after the signing of an agreement between Egyptian maritime authorities and the Japanese owner of the ship, Shoei Kisen Kaisha. The Japanese owner has agreed to compensate Egyptian authorities, details of which have not been made public so far.

Cairo had initially claimed US$916 million as compensation. Later, it reduced the claim to US$600 million and then pruned down to US$550 million. In addition to the compensation, president of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie said that Egypt would receive a tugboat with a capacity of 75 tons from the owner of the Ever Given.

The herculean clearing operations required more than a dozen tugboats, as well as dredgers to dig up the bottom of the canal. According to some estimates, the Suez Canal Authorities lost 12 to 15 million dollars per day of closure. In addition, one SCA employee died during the salvage operations, and the shoreline coating was damaged. Reports suggested that 422 ships loaded with 26 million tons of cargo were blocked for days together. According to the insurer Allianz, the losses reached six to ten billion dollars per day for world maritime trade.