Empty Ever Given heading back to the Suez Canal?
The 20,000 teu Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March, ...
Photo: Suez Canal Authority
The Suez Canal Authority’s (SCA) claim against Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen Kaisha over the grounding of the Ever Given, and subsequent six-day blockage of the waterway, has been reduced by some 30%.
SCA chairman Osama Rabie told Egyptian television channel MBC Masr the SCA had reduced its claim against the shipowner to $600m, from $916m.
After the vessel was re-floated at the end of March, it was towed to the Bitter Lake area of the canal where inspectors from classification society ABS found limited damage and said it could proceed to its next port of call.
However, an Egyptian court arrested the vessel after the SCA submitted the $916m claim. This included $300m for salvage and $300m for “loss of reputation”, but was rejected by the shipowner and its insurer, UK P&I Club, which described the claim as “largely unsupported”.
Mr Rabie said Shoei Kisen Kaisha had yet to respond to the latest offer.
According to Bloomberg, via gCaptain, this year’s first-quarter revenue for the SCA came in at $1.96bn, a rise of 2.8% on the $1.9bn earned in the first quarter of 2020.
Comment on this article
Praveen Godbole
May 11, 2021 at 2:21 pmShipowners and UK P&I club should offer by way of security a bank guarantee for $600 million for release of arrested ship, pending determination of exact quantum of liability by Egyptian court. The ship cannot be held indefinitely until the dispute is resolved. SCA can encase the guarantee if Shipowners fail to pay after court’s award.