The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) had demanded $916 million in compensation from the owners of the giant Ever Given vessel that had got stuck in the Suez Canal earlier this year. The high compensation was sought to cover the revenue loss, reputational damage and cost of salvage operations.
As per reports, the negotiation could not be finalized since March leading to the ship being anchored in a lake between two stretches of the canal since it was dislodged on March 29.
The Ever Given ship’s Japanese owners Shoei Kisen and its insurers had disputed the claim and the ship’s detention under an Egyptian court order with negotiations going on till Saturday.
Demanding 15 more days for a mutual settlement, the Suez Canal Authority have publicly lowered the compensation to $550 million.
Stann Marine Ltd., a London-based law firm for Ever Given’s owners and insurers, said in a statement on Monday, “Following extensive discussions with the Suez Canal Authority’s negotiating committee over the past few weeks, an agreement in principle between the parties has been reached.”
“During the negotiations, we submitted a proposal that we believe satisfies all the requirements of the SCA,” said a statement, informing that the details of the negotiations would remain confidential.
Arrangements will be made to let the ship leave Egypt as soon as the two sides will finalize an agreement.
The SCA’s chairman had earlier informed that Shoei Kisen had offered to pay $150 million. Judicial sources claim that the case was adjourned until July 4 to allow for an “amicable settlement”.
BREAKING NEWS: The #EverGiven is still in the Great Bitter Lake🙃
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) June 16, 2021
The most famous ship of 2021 has been stuck in the #Suez for 85 days, since Mar 23.During that time, 4343 vessels have passed through the Great Bitter Lake @ an avg of 54 a day
But the Ever Given is still there😦 pic.twitter.com/T2BDU0lGqR
The Ever Given, one of the largest cargo carriers of the world, had got stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking up one of the world’s busiest trade routes. An estimates 12 billion USD was lost in international trade due to the blockage.
After finally being freed after almost two weeks with continuous efforts by private salvage companies and the SCA, the giant ship has been held in the Great Bitter Lake, because the canal authorities refused to let it pass without the owners paying compensation for the blockage.
Suez Canal blocked by ‘Ever Given’
A huge container ship named ‘Ever Given’ had run aground in March the Suez Canal after being blown off course by a “gust of wind”, resulting in a huge traffic jam of vessels at either end of the crucial international trade route. The cargo ship, which is three-years-old and is registered in Panama, was on its way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China when it got stuck in the Suez Canal.
Weighing 220,000 tonnes and running 400 metres long, the “mega-ship” Ever Given had jammed itself diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early, blocking shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.