Egypt impounded the Ever Given – the massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal and disrupted global trade for days – while officials negotiated a hefty compensation payment with the boat’s owner.
An Egyptian court has allowed the Suez Canal Authority to seize the ship until the Japanese firm that owns the vessel forks more than $ 900 million for last month’s traffic jam, Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, the amount is responsible for moving the 400-meter-long ship after it ran aground, as well as the cost of lost transit fees and the traffic that stopped during the six-day clog.
Ship rental company Shoei Kisen Kaisha disputes 90 percent of the amount in negotiations with Egyptian officials, Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie told local media.
“They do not want to pay anything,” Rabie told a state-run television network on Monday.
He also said that the channel had suffered great moral damage in addition to the financial cost of the debacle.
Shoei Kisen told newspapers that the Ever Given had been seized and that the channel had filed a claim for compensation, but said negotiations were continuing.
“They are still talking to us. So we will continue to negotiate compensation, ”company spokesperson Ryu Murakoshi told The Wall Street Journal.
Rabie previously estimated that Egypt lost about $ 1 billion because of the snafu that brought hundreds of ships to a standstill and kept goods worth billions of dollars.
The Ever Given – which carried more than $ 3.5 billion worth of cargo when it ran aground on March 23 – is now sitting in the Bitter Lakes near the canal’s southern end, while officials are investigating the incident, Al-Ahram said.
Crew succeeds in freeing the Ever Given on March 29 after consignments of animals, consumables and even sex toys were allegedly caught.
Shoei Kisen apologized for the mess. But Evergreen Marine Corp. The Taiwanese company that rented the Ever Given and whose name was plastered on the boat’s hull apparently did not expect to pay the bill and denied responsibility for delays in the cargo it carried.
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