The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is demanding USD 300 million in compensation for the damage to its reputation caused by the Ever Given running aground in the Suez Canal. This is reported by Evergreen, which charters the ship from Japanese shipping company Shoei Kisen Kaisha.
The Taiwanese company bases itself on information from the ship’s insurer, the UK P&I Club. The latter has received a claim from the canal operator totalling USD 916 million. This also includes a “salvage bonus” of another 300 million dollars. The chartering company, however, states that ‘SCA’s claims are largely unsupported and lack any detailed justification’.
After negotiations between the canal operator and the shipping company on the size of the compensation failed on Monday, the SCA filed a request for the seizure of the ship on Tuesday, which was granted by the court.
Also read: Container ship that blocked Suez Canal seized by Egypt
Settlement
Evergreen hopes that the parties will reach a settlement and that the ship will be released. Ship and cargo, with a combined value of probably over half a billion dollars, have been delayed for more than three weeks already.
The Taiwanese shipping company says it is studying the scope of the court order, including the possibility of handling the ship and cargo ‘separately’. The shipping company thus seems to be hinting at a scenario in which the containers would be unloaded on the spot in order to be transported by another ship. Evergreen says it is ‘its utmost to complete the mission entrusted by its customers with all due dispatch and to keep all adverse impacts to minimal level’.
Also read: Container ship Ever Given grounding: Could it happen again?
This article first appeared in Dutch on Nieuwsblad Transport, a publication of SWZ|Maritime’s publishing partner Promedia.
Picture by Suez Canal Authority.
