Who would have thought a ship could cause tis much trouble not even being on land. Well that’s exactly what the Ever Given did by blocking busiest canal in the world. The Suez Canal is known to be used by cargo liners to cross channels to get to their destinations. The Ever Given managed to block the entire Suez and cause a cargo traffic line where ships could not pass. This put a lot of tension as the cargo that was supposed to be delivered could not be delivered as promised. This also meant that hefty insurances would have to be paid by the shipping company for the loss or perished goods on this cargo voyage.
There was a court case put on the owners of the container ship in regards to damages that had to be paid as it was negligence that caused the Ever G8iven to block the entire canal. The Egyptian court that was hearing the case in the Northeastern city of Ismailia postponed the proceedings until the 20th of June 2021 on request of the lawyers and legal team that was representing the Suez canal authority and the owners of the Ever Given container ship.
There have been discussion between the two parties about the payment of compensation. This is to be done as court proceedings are expensive and more time and money should not be wasted on such proceedings if the two parties can come to an agreement. Nabil Zidan, the Suez Canal Authority’s lawyer stated that “There are endeavors to reach a settlement and because they are good clients, we are asking the court to postpone to negotiate and study the offer submitted by the owners.”
The Suez Canal Authority initially demanded more than $916 million in damages following the key waterway’s six-day closure, however later lowered its claim to $550 million. Ever Given owners Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd offered to pay $150 million, according to the canal authority, which was refused after the authority said it would not cover lost transit fees, damage to the canal, labour and equipment.
