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The driver of the excavator that helped free Ever Ever should have been paid, Suez Canal chiefs said.
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Abdullah Abdul-Gawad, a subcontractor, told Insider earlier that he was still waiting for overtime.
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The Suez Canal Authority said it had paid, although Insider could not reach Abdul-Gawad’s direct employer.
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The driver of the excavator who gained fame for his work to dislodge the massive container ship Ever Ever from the Suez Canal should have been paid overtime, the Suez Canal Authority said.
The body, also called the SCA, issued a statement saying Abdullah Abdul-Gawad received the extra money from which he was dueling from the grueling work of helping move the ship.
SCA officials, who are owned by the Egyptian government, praised her work as “beyond” her duty.
The announcement, made on Facebook last week, came after Insider interviewed Abdul-Gawad, who at the time said he had not yet received overtime pay. He spoke to Insider nine days after the ship was released.
Abdel-Gawad does not work for SCA, but a subcontractor. At the time, he told Insider that he fully expected to receive overtime pay at some point, but noted that it was coming slowly.
Insider was unable to confirm with Abdul-Gawad’s employer whether he has now received overtime. Abdul-Gawad declined to comment.
After the event was founded on March 23, completely blocking the Suez Canal, images of Abdul-Gawad’s digger trying to free him became famous around the world. A world that followed found the sight of Abdul-Gawad’s small excavator next to the colossal ship attracting meme material.
But the real working conditions he described were a much more serious picture – he and his colleagues could only fall asleep in a nearby hut and fear for his safety.
The ship was released on March 29 through the combined efforts of Abdul-Gawad’s excavations, multiple tugs, winches, a specialized dredger – and a full tide powered by a supermoon.
The SCA took a victory turn in a statement on the same day, in which its boss, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, congratulated the SCA workers “who accomplished this heroic feat by saying that they did their patriotic duty impeccably”.
But Abdul-Gawad told Insider that he felt overlooked in triumph.
In a statement posted on Facebook on April 13, the SCA urged Egyptians “not to pay attention to anonymous rumors and news” and urged people to rely only on “official sources.”
He added: “We state that the employee received all salaries / fees due from his employer, in addition to a bonus in recognition of his service over and over.”
The Ever Give remains in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez Canal, where it was confiscated amid major legal action by the Egyptian government against the ship’s owners.
Read the original Business Insider article