The Panama-flagged Ever Given is sailing in the Mediterranean. Egypt had held the container ship until authorities reached a compensation agreement with its owners.
Ever Given, operated by Taiwan's Evergreen Line, was anchored in Egypt's Great Bitter LakeImage: Mohamed Elshahed/AP Photo/picture alliance
According to Egyptian media reports, the ship headed for Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
"I announce to the world that we have reached a deal," Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Osama Rabie said in a ceremony carried live on Egypt's state television.
It is unclear whether any other changes were made to the amount of money that the SCA would receive.
Rabie said Egypt would also receive a 75-ton tugboat from the ship's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, as part of the compensation package.
According to the SCA, Egypt lost $12 million to $15 million in revenues for each day the waterway was closed.
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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Imbari Shipbuilding, of which Shoei Kisen Kaisha is a subsidiary, thanked the SCA.
"Our company has a large fleet of ships and will continue to be a regular and loyal customer of the Suez Canal, which in our view remains an indispensable asset for international maritime trade," said Yukito Higaki, of Imabari Shipbuilding.
It was finally dislodged six days later after a massive rescue effort, allowing hundreds of waiting ships to pass through the waterway.
SCA held the vessel and pressured its owners to compensate for lost revenue and the cost of salvaging it.
The waterway is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. With 15% of world shipping traffic transiting the Suez Canal, it is a crucial source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt.
