Authorities in Egypt have impounded a megaship that blocked the Suez Canal and crippled world trade for nearly a week in the face of a financial dispute with its owner.
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Lieutenant General Osama Rabie said on Tuesday the hulking Ever Given would not be allowed to leave the country until a compensation amount is settled on with the vessel’s Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
“The vessel is now officially impounded,” he told Egypt’s state-run television late on Monday. “They do not want to pay anything.”
Yumi Shinohara, deputy manager with owner Shoei Kisen’s fleet management department, confirmed the canal had made a compensation claim but gave no further details.
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The canal chief said last week the Suez Canal Authority was expecting more than $1 billion (NZ$1.4b) in compensation, warning the ship would not be allowed to leave the canal if the issue of damages turns into a legal dispute.
Mohamed Elshahed/AP
Authorities say they hope to conclude talks with the Ever Given’s Japanese owners without a lawsuit. That amount takes into account the salvage operation, costs of stalled traffic and lost transit fees for the week that the Ever Given blocked the canal. He did not specify then who would be responsible for paying the compensation. The massive cargo ship is currently in one of the canal’s holding lakes, where authorities and the ship’s managers say an investigation is ongoing.
The Suez Canal Authority is seeking one billion dollars in compensation from the Ever Given container ship s owner company Shoei Kisen, as a result of the dayslong disruption of the canal and the.
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