Two crew members of the container ship Ever Given will be allowed to return to India due to urgent personal reasons, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) confirmed on Thursday.
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.
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Currently anchored in a lake between two sections of the canal, the ship is now caught in a legal dispute as local authorities informed that Egypt will not release it until its owners agree to pay the USD 1 billion compensation.
The Suez Canal Authority said it was “sparing no effort to ensure the success of the negotiations” and was cooperating with the shipping agency to make sure the crew’s needs are provided for, according to Reuters.
An investigation is underway to determine the exact causes of the incident.
