Suez Canal chief: Vessel impounded amid financial dispute with Japanese owner
15 April, 2021
Egyptian authorities impounded an enormous cargo vessel that blocked the Suez Canal previous month amid a economical dispute with its owner, the canal chief and a judicial recognized said Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie explained the hulking Ever Given would not be permitted to leave the country until a compensation volume is usually settled on with the vessel's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
“The vessel is currently officially impounded,” he told Egypt’s state-run tv late Monday. “They don't want to give anything.”
There was no immediate comment from the vessel's owner.
Rabei did not say how much money the canal authority was in search of. However, a judicial established explained it demanded at least $900 million. The state-run Ahram daily as well reported the $900 million figure.
That amount takes into account the salvage procedure, costs of stalled canal site visitors and lost transit fees for the week that the Ever Given blocked the canal.
The state said the order to impound the vessel was issued Mon by a court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, and that the vessel’s crew has been informed Tuesday.
He said prosecutors found in Ismailia also opened another investigation into what led the Ever Given to run aground. The official spoke on state of anonymity because he had not been authorized to brief media.
Rabie said negotiations were still ongoing to reach funds on compensation.
He warned the other day in an interview with The Associated Press that bringing the circumstance before a court will be more threatening to the vessel's owner than settling with the canal’s management.
Litigation could possibly be complex, since the vessel is owned by a Japanese firm, operated by a good Taiwanese shipper, and flagged found in Panama.
The Panama-flagged ship that carries some $3.5 billion in cargo between Asia and Europe ran aground March 23 in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Asian Sinai Peninsula.
The vessel had crashed in to the bank of a single-lane stretch of the canal about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near to the city of Suez.
On March 29, salvage clubs freed the Ever Presented, ending an emergency that had clogged among the world’s most essential waterways and halted vast amounts of dollars a day in maritime commerce. The vessel offers since idled in Egypt’s Wonderful Bitter Lake, simply north of the website where it previously blocked the canal.
The unprecedented six-day shutdown, which raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages and rising charges for consumers, added to pressure on the shipping industry already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.
Rabie, the canal chief, told state-run television set there was zero wrongdoing by the canal authority. He declined to go over possible causes, like the ship’s quickness and the substantial winds that buffeted it during a sandstorm.
When asked if the ship's owner was responsible, he said: “Of lessons, yes.”
Rabie said the final outcome of the authority's investigation was first expected Thursday.
Source: japantoday.com