Ever Given ship forbidden to leave the Suez Canal until its owners pay up to $1 billion in compensat

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

While the giant Even Given container ship might have been freed from the banks of the Suez Canal, it still finds itself stuck, embroiled in a row of who should pay for dislodging it from the waterway.

Egyptian authorities said that they wouldn't release the massive ship, which was stuck in the Suez Canal for almost a week until its owners agree to pay up to $1 billion in compensation.

"The vessel will remain here until investigations are complete and compensation is paid," Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, who leads the Suez Canal Authority, told a local news station on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"We hope for a speedy agreement," he said, adding that the "minute they agree to compensation, the vessel will be allowed to move."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/ever-given-ship-forbidden-to-leave-the-suez-canal-until-its-owners-pay-up-to-1-billion-in-compensation-for-the-chaos-it-caused/ar-BB1fwEdw

[elleng]

1. "The vessel will remain here until investigations are complete and compensation is paid,"

gonna be a WHILE.

[mainer]

2. Egyptian pilots were in charge

aren't they the ones who screwed up?

[HUAJIAO]

4. That's what I thought, also.

[backscatter712]

9. Yep, and the ship was going through the canal during a high-wind sandstorm.

Ever see an empty 18-wheeler trying to drive in a stiff crosswind?

Ever Given, being a big container ship, had about the same aerodynamics, except scaled up massively.

Driving that beast isn't as easy as it looks.

I haven't been paying too much attention, so I'm not actually sure who's at fault. Like an auto-accident insurance company pie fight, except scaled up massively. Nobody in this, especially the insurers, want to be the ones stuck with the tab.

[cloudbase]

6. Pilots are there in an advisory capacity only.

The captain retains responsibility for the safe navigation of the ship.
The only exception is transiting the Panama Canal.

[dalton99a]

3. It cost $1 billion to free the vessel?

Rabie said that Egyptian authorities would demand $1 billion to cover the costs of freeing the vessel.

The figure will cover the expense of the equipment and machinery used to clear the way, damage to the canal itself by the dredging, and compensate around 800 people who worked to release the 200,000-ton ship, Rabei said.

According to London-based financial firm Revenitiv, the Egyptian state lost transit fees worth $95 million because of the blockage.

[csziggy]

11. Will part of that $1 billion cover compensation for other shippers?

Whose shipments were delayed or diverted? Or will those companies have to sue Evergreen separately?

[Towlie]

5. I'll bet Somalian pirates will be interested in seeing how well that works for Egypt.

 
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[lpbk2713]

7. With stakes like that the owners could just leave it there to rust.

It has happened before.

[Sogo]

8. I thought that, too, but then

they'd probably also be sued by the companies that contracted them to move their containers....

It seems like a lose/lose situation for EverGreen.

[backscatter712]

10. The cargo on board that ship's worth $3 billion.

Probably what's gonna happen is the ship operator or its insurer, or the cargo's insurers, will agree to put money in escrow so the ship can be released & deliver its cargo. Half the planet will be upset if their various cargos in all those containers don't get to their destinations, and the insurers are well-motivated to avoid eating the claims. And the operator's undoubtedly interested in getting their expensive quarter-mile-long ship fixed and back to work - every minute it's in impound or otherwise not moving stuff from point A to point B, they're bleeding money.

After the escrow comes the investigations, the court fights, the diplomatic arm-twisting & so on, which eventually results in a quiet settlement. It'll take a while.