Ships released from the blocked Suez Canal business and economic news

Due to a financial dispute, Ever Given left the Great Bitter Lake on the canal and parked there for more than three months.

Ever Give, one of the largest container ships in the world, resumed its journey from the Suez Canal on Wednesday after wedging the southern section of the Suez Canal for nearly a week and disrupting global trade.

After weeks of negotiations and a deadlock in the court, its Japanese owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd and the canal authorities reached a settlement on the amount of compensation.

The settlement agreement was signed at a ceremony in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Wednesday, after which the ship was seen sailing to the Mediterranean.

Shoei Kisen said that the ship will conduct a diving survey in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Port Said before continuing to sail to the next unloading port.

This 400-meter (1,310-foot) long ship is loaded with approximately 18,300 containers. The video broadcast by Egyptian TV shows that the captain and another crew member received a bouquet of flowers and a plaque on the ship.

Shoei Kisen said in a statement: “We regret the impact of the voyage delay on the people stranded on the ship.”

“In this matter, we have made every effort to minimize delays and ensure that the ship is released as soon as possible.”

After the Suez Canal Authority notified it to reach a settlement with the ship owner and the insurance company, the Egyptian court lifted the ship’s judicial arrest one day before being released on Wednesday.

The officials did not disclose the details of the settlement terms. At first, the Suez Canal Authority demanded compensation of US$916 million, which was later reduced to US$550 million. In addition to the money, local reports said that the canal will also receive a tugboat.

According to the canal authorities, the money will be used to cover the cost of salvage operations, the cost of canal traffic stagnation, and the six-day lost transit fee of the Ever Give blocking critical waterways.

Extraordinary event

On March 23, this Panamanian-flagged ship hit the shore of the Canal Cycleway about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance near the city of Suez on its way to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. .

Its bow touched the east wall of the canal, while its stern appeared to be leaning against the west wall—experts say this is an extraordinary event that has never been heard in the 150-year history of the canal.

Six days later, with the help of the tide, a fleet of tugboats carried out a large-scale salvage work. The skyscraper-sized ship was rescued, ending the crisis and allowing hundreds of waiting ships to pass through the canal.

The blockage of the Suez Canal forced some ships at the time to bypass long alternate routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, requiring additional fuel and other costs. Hundreds of other ships waited in place for the blockade to end.

The outage has raised concerns about supply shortages and rising consumer costs, adding pressure to the shipping industry that is already under the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic.