The Suez Canal Authority has said that it and Egypt were negotiating with Shoei Kisen, the owners of ULCV Ever Given (IMO 9811000), and hoped that a financial settlement with the company could be reached without the need for legal action.
“We are discussing with them a peaceful resolution to the matter without resorting to the judiciary”, said SCA chairman Ossama Rabie.
On Tuesday Rabie said data from the ship’s recorders had been removed and handed over to an investigation committee, and that the ship would travel on once the procedures were completed.
“We are talking about two or three more days, God willing. But we won’t take much time,” he told Reuters.
The committee investigating the grounding was made up of five or six members with law, maritime, salvage, and administration expertise, he said, adding that it had caused Egypt great damage.
The SCA has mentioned $1bn in compensation and has said that the ship would not be allowed to leave the canal if the issue of damages turned into a legal dispute. The ship is currently moored in the Great Bitter Lakes.
Thus far the investigators into the potential causes of the grounding in the Suez Canal on March 23rd 2021, which led to its closure for six days, have analyzed information gleaned from the Voyage Data Recorder, but no conclusion had yet been reached on what caused the vessel to run hard aground.
2018-built, Panama-flagged, 219,079 gt Ever Given is owned by Luster Maritime/Higaki Sangyo care of Shoei Kisen KK of Imabari-shi, Ehime-ken, Japan. It is entered with UK Club on behalf of Luster Maritime SA.