Finally released from the Suez Canal: NPR

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The cargo ship Ever Given, flying the flag of Panama, was seen in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake in late March. An Egyptian court has lifted a three-month judicial seizure of the giant cargo ship that closed the Suez Canal for about a week earlier this year. Muhammad Shahid / AP Hide caption

Toggle caption: Muhammad al-Shahed/The Associated Press

The cargo ship Ever Given, flying the flag of Panama, was seen in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake in late March. An Egyptian court has lifted a three-month judicial seizure of the giant cargo ship that closed the Suez Canal for about a week earlier this year.

Mohamed Elshahid/AP

Ismailia, Egypt – The Egyptian authorities announced, on Wednesday, the release of a giant cargo ship that closed the Suez Canal for about a week earlier this year.

The Ever Givene has left the canal’s Great Bitter Lake, where it has been held for more than three months amid a financial dispute. The development came after its Japanese owner, Shui Kesen Kaisha Ltd., reached a settlement with the canal authorities over a compensation amount after weeks of negotiations and a court standoff.

The settlement agreement was signed in a ceremony held on Wednesday in the city of Ismailia on the Suez Canal, after which the ship was seen sailing to the Mediterranean Sea. An Associated Press video journalist watched aboard the ship’s tugboat move north into the Mediterranean as officials representing the Suez Canal, the ship’s owner, and insurance companies drafted the deal in Ismailia.

“An agreement was reached that achieved justice and gave priority to the interests of both parties,” said Suez Canal head Lieutenant-General Osama Rabiei. “It ended a crisis that lasted for more than three months.”

Shwe Kisen Keisha Ltd. said the ship will undergo a diving survey in the Egyptian city of Port Said on the Mediterranean, before resuming its journey to the next port where its cargo will be unloaded.

The release came, on Wednesday, a day after an Egyptian court lifted the judicial seizure of the ship after notifying the Suez Canal Authority that it had reached a settlement with ship owners and insurance companies.

Officials did not disclose details of the terms of the settlement. Initially, the Suez Canal Authority demanded compensation of $916 million, which was later reduced to $550 million. In addition to the money, local reports said the channel will also receive a tugboat.

The money, according to canal authorities, will cover the salvage operation, the costs of grounded canal traffic, and lost transit fees for the six days that Ever Given closed the important waterway.

The Panama-flagged ship was en route to the Dutch port of Rotterdam on March 23 when it collided with the bank of a single-lane extension of the canal about 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

Its arch had touched the eastern wall of the canal, while its stern appeared to rest on the western wall – an unusual event that experts said they had never heard of in the canal’s 150-year history.

A massive rescue effort by a fleet of tide-assisted tugboats helped free the skyscraper-sized ship six days later, 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 take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, which required additional fuel and other costs. Hundreds of other ships waited in place for the blockage to end.

The shutdown, which has raised fears of supply shortages and rising costs for consumers, has put additional pressure on the shipping industry, which is already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.

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