Egypt offers to slash claim against Ever Given insurers
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has offered to reduce the claim amount for the recent blockage of the Suez Canal from US$900 million to US$600 million.
JOHANNESBURG, May 10 (ANA) – The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has offered to reduce the claim amount for the recent blockage of the canal by the Ever Given container ship from US$900 million to US$600 million, according to Marine Online News.
Egyptian authorities impounded the Ever Given on May 4, and the Suez Canal Authority said the vessel would not be allowed to leave the country until a compensation amount was settled on with the vessel’s Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, according to the Associated Press.
Marine Online News reported on Monday that the SCA was yet to receive a response and that negotiations took off after the ship’s insurers, the UK Club, challenged the amount.
An Egyptian court recently dismissed the UK Club’s appeal, but the insurer argued that the contest was needed.
“The appeal against the arrest (of the ship) was made on several grounds, including the validity of the arrest obtained in respect of the cargo and the lack of supporting evidence,” Marine Online News quoted the UK Club as saying.
According to media reports, the appeal hearing was set for May 4 but the date has been moved to May 22.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that the SCA said compensation was needed to cover losses of transit fees, damage to the waterway during the dredging and salvage efforts and for the cost of equipment and labour.
On March 23, the Suez Canal was blocked by the 224,000-ton, 400m-long megaship after it ran aground amid high winds and a sandstorm that affected visibility, reported Sputnik in March. The Ever Given was sailing from China to the Netherlands.
According to a report by CGTN, the blockage cost global trade almost US$10 billion a day.
Meanwhile, Splash TV reported on Monday that the ship’s owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, has applied the International Convention on Limitation of Liability to the Ever Given, whereby it aims to cap claims at a maximum of US$115 million.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher