You might remember the Ever Given aka the container ship that blocked one of the highest traffic trade routes in the world for nearly a week. We flew over it in Flight Simulator, despaired over our lost board games and rejoiced as it was finally freed.
But now it’s stuck again.
The Ever Given is being held hostage
Ok, so not literally stuck but the Ever Given is, once again, going nowhere fast.
After being heroically freed from its place in the Suez Canal, the Ever Given was moved to a lake nearby as the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) conducts some investigations.
An anonymous source told Reuters that a court order had been issued for the ship to be held while negotiations for compensation take place.
It’s estimated the Ever Given blockage cost as much as $400 million an hour while it was stuck resulting in billions of dollars of lost revenue by the time it was freed. Now the SCA wants some of that money back.
The SCA wants compensation
Reuters reports that Egypt filed a compensation claim for $916 million against the shipowner Shoei Kisen. This has resulted in the Ever Given being denied clearance to leave the waterway while discussions take place.
UK Club, the protection and indemnity insurer for the Ever Given said it was “disappointed” that the ship and its crew were being held in the canal.
Apparently, the claim includes $300 million for a “salvage bonus” and $300 million for “loss of reputation”. Negotiations are said to be going ahead in good faith despite the Ever Given’s seizure.
There’s no official word from the SCA’s end but the chairman, Osama Rabie, appeared on Egyptian TV to say the ship would not be given clearance to leave until the investigations were finished and compensation was paid.
Results of the investigation are expected by the end of the week.
Guess we’re going back to istheshipstillstuck.com.