Never given, the ship that blocked the Suez Canal is moving forward

More than three months after the Suez Canal was blocked by one of the world’s largest container ships, the ship, the Ever Given, finally began its voyage on Wednesday, after Egyptian authorities reached a compensation deal with the shipowners.

The vessel had been impounded and was, with many crew on board, in a part of the Suez Canal known as the Great Bitter Lakes as the Suez Canal Authority and the Japanese owner of the ship was involved in a long dispute over the losses.

His departure ends a saga that began on March 23, with the stranded ship disrupting the global supply chain and attracting insurers, lawyers, transportation agencies and much of the internet. People around the world have been watching closely for updates after the quarter-mile-long ship bogged down in the canal, and memes followed, including some who saw the stranded ship as a pandemic state of the world metaphor.

The ship was refloated after six days of uninterrupted efforts, but reaching an agreement to let the ship go was an operation of a different kind, said Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority on Wednesday. a ceremony on the east side of the canal. which was followed by Masaki noke, Japanese Ambassador to Egypt.

Negotiations on the fate of the ships have started with the aim of preserving the rights of the Suez Canal after the losses it suffered as a result of the halt in maritime traffic, Mr Rabie said.

The ship’s first stopover was near Port Said where its hull was inspected as a precaution before leaving Egypt, according to a statement from the company of the ships technical director, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.

We are very happy that Ever Given can finally continue its voyage, said Ian Beveridge, Managing Director of the company, thanking the ship’s crew for their resilience and professionalism throughout this time.

Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the shipowners and subsidiary of Imabari Shipbuilding, said in a statement that they had strengthened their relationship with the Suez Canal Authority through the experience. Our company has a large fleet of vessels and will continue to be a regular and loyal customer of the Suez Canal.

Details of the settlement were not disclosed, but the UK P&I Club, one of the ship insurers, said they had focused on finding a fair and amicable settlement and worked closely with the Suez Canal Authority to finally find consensus .

With nearly 20,000 containers on board, the Ever Given was bound for Rotterdam in the Netherlands when high winds and poor visibility caused it to run aground on March 23. Authorities worked for days removing rocks and sand before being successfully refloated on March 29. .

But with a delay of more than 300 ships waiting to pass through the canal, the bailout was not the end of the story. In April, Egyptian authorities obtained a court order to arrest the vessel and argued that the owners of the vessel owed them $ 916 million in losses, a claim that the UK P&I Club called largely unfounded. Egypt subsequently amended this claim to around $ 550 million.

Globally, the cost of incidents to global trade was much higher: $ 5.1 billion a day, according to the International Chamber of Shipping, which said it helped the parties negotiate.

But you couldn’t put a price on the well-being of his Indian crew, he said in a declaration. There are many lessons to be learned from the in-depth investigation still ongoing, but we are delighted to see the Ever Given sailing again, he said, adding that the crew are now free to return to their loved ones afterwards. three months of uncertainty. .

May God let him arrive safe and sound, said Tarek Alzeki, captain of a tug carrying journalists in the canal Wednesday. We are happy, of course.

Vivian Yee and Nada hussein contributed to reports from Cairo.