Shortly after it was announced that the Ever Given owners reached a deal with the Suez Canal Authority over the compensation claim, the ship operator said it would take more time for the vessel to be released.
The Japanese owners and insurers of the giant ship had been locked in a compensation dispute with the Suez Canal Authority, which has left the ship still detained, three months after it grounded and blocked the Suez Canal.
At first, the Suez Canal Authority sought a compensation worth $916 million, which was later reduced to $550 million, provided that $200 million is paid in advance. Following long working sessions and negotiations, the owners announced on Wednesday that an agreement in principle had been reached, with no specific details.
It may take some further time for the agreement to be concluded, for the vessel to be released from arrest and prepared for onward transit,
…ship operator Evergreen Line said in a statement.
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 has been anchored in a lake between two stretches of the canal since then.
