File Photo: A grab from a video released by Egypt's Suez Canal Authority taken on March 29, 2021, shows tugboats pulling the Panama-flagged MV 'Ever Given' container ship after it was fully dislodged from the banks of the Suez. AFP
A final deal settling the financial dispute over the six-day blockage of the Egyptian Suez Canal by the giant Ever Given ship is expected within next week, with the giant vessel set to be released afterward, according to Suez Canal Authority (SCA) head Osama Rabie.
The SCA is expected to sign a final deal with the Japanese shipowner within the next week to allow the mega-ship to depart, Rabie said to a local television channel on Thursday morning.
Rabie’s remarks come a day after Faz Peermohamed of Stann Marine, the representative for the owners and insurers of the mega-ship, stated an agreement in principle between the parties has been reached.
“Both sides preferred negotiation to going to court,” Rabie added.
“There were intensive negotiations over the past two weeks … We see eye to eye about facilitating the matter and meeting at a midpoint. Thank God, we reached a preliminary agreement and currently we are finalising the deal,” he noted.
The Ever Given, which was on a trip from China to Rotterdam, ran aground in the strategic waterway on 23 March, causing a six-day disruption to international traffic, before being refloated on 29 March by a fleet of Egyptian tugboats and diggers.
The cargo ship, which is one of the largest in the world, has since been anchored in a lake between two sections of the canal at a court’s request over a compensation claim made by the SCA.
“We took into account while negotiating our close relations with one of our largest customers, our economic and political relations with Japan, in addition to the interests of international trade and supporting global supply chains, as there are some 18,000 containers aboard the vessel,” he explained.
The announcement came three days after a court hearing in the case was adjourned for further negotiations.
The case went to the court after the Japanese shipowner had refused to pay an initial $916 million compensation claim made by the SCA over the six-day blockage’s consequences.
The demanded sum covers the losses incurred from the blocking of the Suez Canal as well as the costs of refloating the vessel by the country’s equipment and labour, according to previous statements by Rabie.
The SCA, however, had offered to slash its compensation claim to $550 million to settle the current judicial dispute, with the mega-ship to be allowed to leave if nearly 40 percent of the sum is paid in cash.
The Ever Given’s insurers had previously offered to pay $150 million in compensation for the six-day traffic halt.
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