Panama-flagged ship that blocked Suez Canal will sail Wednesday

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced Sunday, July 4 an agreement to release next Wednesday Panama flagged giant container ship Ever Given, held back since it blocked the crucial seaway for international trade at the end of March.

The agreement was reached with the owner of the vessel, according to a statement from the SCA. On Wednesday a ceremony will be held to celebrate “the signing of the agreement” and the “departure of the ship”, held in the Great Bitter Lake by the Egyptian authorities, the text says.

With a capacity of more than 200,000 tons, the Ever Given was stranded on March 23 and blocked circulation in the canal, through which about 10% of world maritime trade passes.

The blockade lasted six days. According to the SCA, Egypt lost  $12 to $15 million each day the channel was closed.

At the end of June, the Egyptian authority announced an “initial” compensation agreement between Egypt and the owner of the Ever Given, after intense negotiations in which the ship’s insurer participated.

The main point of contention between Egypt and the Japanese company Shoei Kisen, which owns the ship, lay in the amount of compensation.

Initially, Cairo claimed $916 million but in the end, it lowered the sum to $550 million. In total, 422 vessels, carrying 26 million tons of goods, were blocked in March due to the incident.