Egyptian court impounds Ever Given

Written by Nick Blenkey
Ever Given under tow

Videos released on YouTube showed giant Evergreen containership under tow after being freed. It went no further than the Great Bitter Lake.

The Suez Canal Authority has now officially impounded the giant containership Ever Given under a lien issued yesterday by the Ismailia Economic Court.

The order comes as the ship remains in the Great Bitter Lake, where it was towed after blocking the canal for more than six days.

The seizure of the ship follows last week’s announcement that the Suez Canal Authority was to seek compensation of more than $1 billion for losses and costs related to the incident.

The authority is now reportedly seeking a settlement of slightly less than that $1 billion from the Ever Given’s owner, Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha.

Aljazeera quotes a statement from the UK P&I Club as saying that Egypt had filed a compensation claim for $916 million against Shoei Kisen. The P&I Club added it was disappointed that the container ship and its crew were being held in the canal until compensation was paid.

Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram quotes Suez Canal Authority Chairman Admiral Osama Rabie as saying the investigation into the grounding is expected to conclude by Thursday, but that the negotiation process with the shipowner’s insurance providers, involves “many details.”

Al Ahram quotes the UK P&I Club as saying that the SCA has not provided a detailed justification for its “extraordinarily large claim”, which it said included a $300 million claim for a “salvage bonus” and a $300 million claim for “loss of reputation”.

The Suez Canal Authority’s $960 million does not include salvage costs, which are expected to be claimed separately from the vessel’s hull underwriters.

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