Suez Canal authorities release hulking vessel after settlement deal
Suez Canal authorities announced on Wednesday the release of a hulking shipping vessel that blocked the crucial east-west waterway for nearly a week earlier this year. The Ever Given is leaving the Suez Canal after its Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Limited, reached a settlement with the canal authorities over a compensation amount after more than three months of negotiations and a court standoff.
Egyptian Court lifted judicial seizure of the vessel on Tuesday
The settlement deal was signed in a ceremony Wednesday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, after which the vessel was seen sailing to the Mediterranean Sea. The release came a day after an Egyptian court lifted the judicial seizure of the vessel following the Suez Canal Authority's notification that it reached a settlement in its financial dispute with the vessel's owners and insurers.
Compensation would cover salvage operation, lost transit fees, etc.
To recall, the vessel ran aground in March, blocking the crucial waterway for six days. It has been since held amid a dispute over financial compensation. The compensation, according to the canal authorities, would cover the salvage operation, costs of stalled canal traffic, and lost transit fees for the week Ever Given had blocked the canal.
Ever Given slammed into the canal bank on March 23
The Ever Given was on its way to the Dutch port of Rotterdam on March 23 when it slammed into the bank of a single-lane stretch of the canal about six kilometers north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
Vessel was set free by tugboats helped by tides
A massive salvage effort by a flotilla of tugboats helped by the tides freed the skyscraper-sized, Panama-flagged Ever Given six days later, ending the crisis, and allowing hundreds of the waiting ships to pass through the canal. The vessel had since been held in the canal's Great Bitter Lake while the canal authorities and the vessel's owners negotiated a settlement.
The shutdown raised worries of supply shortages among consumers
The blockage of the canal forced some ships to take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope, requiring additional fuel and other costs. Hundreds of other ships waited in place for the blockage to end. The shutdown, which raised worries of supply shortages and rising costs for consumers, added strain on the shipping industry, already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.
