The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has welcomed the settlement reached between the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., owner of the Ever Given, which resulted in the ship’s release on Wednesday, after 106 days of being stranded.
At a ceremony in the Suez town of Ismailia on Wednesday, an official contract was signed permitting the ship to leave the Great Bitter Lake section of the canal, where it had been impounded by the SCA after being re-floated on March 29th. Mainly Indian crew are now able to be relieved.
You cannot put a price on the wellbeing of seafarers. The Ever Given crew is now free to continue their vital role in the global supply chain, and also travel home to their loved ones after three months of uncertainty,
…commented Guy Platten, secretary-general of ICS.
In addition, Mr. Platten stressed how the incident shines a light on the importance of shipping to the global supply chain and the vital role that seafarers play in supporting the 14 trillion USD worth of trade each year.
The Suez incident cost $5.1 billion a day in world trade, however, this was a drop in the bucket in comparison to the financial and emotional costs that the entire industry has been having to deal with due to the draconian travel restrictions imposed on seafarers by all governments. Now that the Ever Given issue has been successfully concluded we must not forget the 1.5 million seafarers across the world.
…he noted.
— هيئة قناة السويس Suez Canal Authority (@SuezAuthorityEG) July 7, 2021
The grounding of the 400-meter-long ship Ever Given in the southern section of the Suez Canal on March 23 blocked the waterway for nearly a week, causing a major disruption in global trade flows as it prevented hundreds of ships from passing the world’s major shipping trade route, before it was finally freed six days later. The ship had been anchored in a lake between two stretches of the canal until last Wednesday.
There are many lessons to be learned from the in-depth inquiry still underway, but we are pleased to see the Ever Given sailing again,
…he concluded.
