Egypt seized Ever Date – the massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal and disrupted global trade for days – while officials negotiate a strong compensation payment with the ship’s owner, reports say.
An Egyptian court has allowed the Suez Canal Authority to seize the ship until the Japanese company that owns the ship forks more than $ 900 million for last month’s traffic jam, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday.
That amount accounts for the cost of moving the 400-meter-long ship after it crashed, as well as the costs of lost transit fees and blocked traffic that piled up during the six-day blockade, according to the Associated Press.
Ship leasing company Shoei Kisen Kaisha disputes 90% of this amount in negotiations with Egyptian officials, Suez Canal Authority President Osama Rabie told local media.
“They don’t want to pay anything,” Rabie told a state TV network on Monday.
He added that the canal had suffered “great moral damage” in addition to the financial costs of the disaster.
Shoei Kisen told the media that Ever Date had been confiscated and that the channel had made a claim, but said negotiations were ongoing.
“I am still talking. So we will continue the negotiations on the compensation, “Ryu Murakoshi, a spokesman for the company, told The Wall Street Journal.
Rabie previously estimated that Egypt lost about $ 1 billion as a result of the snafu that shut down hundreds of ships and seized billions of dollars worth of goods.
The Ever Give – which was carrying more than $ 3.5 billion in cargo when it crashed on March 23 – is now in Bitter Lakes, near the southern end of the canal, while officials are investigating the incident, according to Al-Ahram.
The crews managed to release Ever Date on March 29 after it appeared that the transports of animals, consumer goods and even sex toys were caught in the ordeal.
Shoei Kisen apologized for the mess. But Evergreen Marine Corp. – the Taiwanese company that rented Ever Ever and whose name was plastered on the hull of the ship – apparently does not expect to pay the bill and has denied liability for delays in the goods it was carrying.
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