Egyptian officials are set to release the Panama-flagged Ever Given ship at a special ceremony following a deal with the ship's owners and insurers. The vessel was seized after it had blocked the Suez Canal.
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The Ever Given container ship, impounded by Egypt after it blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, will be released on Wednesday following an agreement with its owners and insurers, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Sunday.
The canal authority said a ceremony would be held on July 7 to mark the signing of an agreement with the owners and "the departure of the ship."
Last week, SCA chief Osama Rabie said that Egypt signed a non-disclosure agreement with the owners of Ever Given as the final settlement was being finalized.
Initially, the canal authority has sought $900 million in compensation to cover lost revenue, salvage efforts, and damage to reputation. But the amount was later publicly lowered to $550 million.
"We are pleased to announce that... good progress has been made and a formal solution agreed," said Faz Peermohamed, a member of the London-based Stann Marine law firm which represents owner Shoei Kisen and its insurers.
"Preparations for the release of the vessel will be made and an event marking the agreement will be held at the Authority's headquarters in Ismailia in due course," Peermohamed said.
The lawyer did not give details of the settlement.
Suez Canal: $10 billion in goods stuck in waterway
The container ship Ever Given has been blocking the Suez Canal for days. Economic fallout is already visible and it could take weeks — and require drastic measures — to free the waterway.
Image: Suez Canal Authority/dpa/picture alliance
Container ship still lodged in canal
Efforts to dislodge the Ever Given, a 400-meter (1,300-foot) container ship that has been blocking the Suez Canal in Egypt since Tuesday, are ongoing as excavators remove sand and mud from the ship's bow while tugboats try to move it. Japanese owner Shoei Kisen has asked for forgiveness and said the job was proving "extremely difficult."
Image: Suez Canal Authority/dpa/picture alliance
Could take weeks to refloat
Dislodging the ship is expected to take about a week, possibly longer, as news agency Bloomberg reported Friday. The Suez Canal Authority, which operates the waterway, has not provided an update on when the canal will be navigable once again. The container ship, which sails under Panamanian flag, is wedged diagonally across the vital transport link.
Image: Suez Canal Authority via Egyptian Cabinet Facebook Page/dpa/picture alliance
Hundreds of ships waiting
Economic fallout began as soon as the Ever Given ran aground, with the price of crude oil fluctuating wildly. At least 200 vessels are backed up at both ends of the canal — at Port Said on the Mediterranean and Suez on the Red Sea — as well as in the canal itself, according to Lloyd's List, a data analyst specializing in container traffic.
Image: Yan Liang/Xinhua/Zuma/picture alliance
Suez Canal (usually) saves ships time
The Suez Canal, which separates the continent of Africa from the Middle East and Asia, is one of the busiest trade routes in the world, handling about 12% of all world trade. The passage saves ships some 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) of travel compared to the route around the southern tip of Africa.
Image: Cnes2021/AP/picture alliance
$10 billion in goods are blocked
In addition to oil, consumer goods such as clothing, furniture and auto parts are transported through the canal. Richard Meade of Lloyd's List wrote on Twitter that westbound traffic was estimated to be worth about $5.1 billion (€4.3 billion) a day. Eastbound traffic is worth some $4.5 billion. This means that about $10 billion worth of goods are now blocked.
Image: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/REUTERS
Russia, Saudi Arabia particularly affected
"Every port in western Europe will feel the effects," said a spokesman for the Dutch port of Rotterdam, the EU's largest. Russia and Saudi Arabia, which send the most oil through the canal, are likely to be particularly affected. According to analysts at Vortexa, India and China are the largest oil importers using the canal. The blockade is also likely to be costly for the German economy.
Image: Suez Canal Authority/REUTERS
Worst-case scenario: Sink the containers
The Ever Given is one of the largest cargo ships in the world. If it ends up not being possible to refloat the boat, part of its cargo may have to be destroyed. According to Bloomberg, that could mean removing containers from the ship and possibly sinking them.
Image: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/REUTERS
More than 50 ships a day
According to the Suez Canal Authority, 19,000 ships passed through the canal in 2020 — more than 50 a day. Container ships account for about 26% of all traffic on the canal, which is dominated by oil tankers. In 2019, a total of 600 million tons of goods were transported through the Egyptian waterway.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Shaker
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SCA chairman Rabie said the canal will receive a tugboat with a pulling capacity of 75 tonnes as part of the settlement.
"We preserved the rights of the authority in full, preserved our relationship with the company and also political relations with Japan," he told a private TV channel on Sunday evening.
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How much money does SCA bring in?
According to official figures, the SCA earned Egypt just over $5.7 billion of revenue in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Despite the Ever Given accident, the canal's revenue in the first six months of 2021 stood at $3 billion, an increase of 8.8% compared to the same period last year.