Higher confiscates Ever Given as Punishment for Canal Obstruction

Approximately three weeks in the past, the colossal cargo ship Ever Given inadvertently got stuck in the heart of Egypt’s Suez Canal, its remarkable size forming an almost flawless diagonal divider between the two sections of the canal. This obstruction led to the interruption of global trade that typically flows through the canal via numerous ships, causing a standstill for several days. Once the Ever Given was eventually freed, it was relocated away from the canal for a comprehensive safety assessment. Nevertheless, Egypt has no intentions of returning the ship to its rightful owners until compensation for the incurred damages is made.

A judicial body in Ismailia has granted legal authorization to the Suez Canal Authority to temporarily take possession of the Ever Given until they are recompensed for the losses and destruction brought about by the obstruction, which they estimate to be around $900 million. Peculiarly, the SCA has refrained from disclosing the specific entity from which they are seeking compensation. They have merely stated their intent to claim damages, encompassing the expenses associated with transit fees that were forfeited, the harm inflicted on the waterway by the Ever Given, and the expenses linked to the machinery and workforce required for its extraction from the canal.

Egypt has declared that it has taken possession of the container vessel that obstructed the Suez Canal and is asking for nearly $1 billion as compensation.

The Ever Given halted global trade flow through the canal for close to a week, postponing cargo worth almost $10 billion each day. pic.twitter.com/rN0LrFkbGS

— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 13, 2021

The vessel is insured for third-party damages, through the U.K. P&I Club, which confirmed that they had received a compensation claim for the $900 million. Nevertheless, as per the U.K. P&I Club, the claimed sum surpasses the actual owed amount, with the claim also including several debatable charges such as a $300 million “salvage bonus” and $300 million for the “loss of reputation.”

The proprietors of the Ever Given, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., have chosen not to address the issue of compensation, though they did clarify that the ship’s staff remains onboard as it stays positioned in the Great Bitter Lake.