Japan-based Imabari Shipbuilding has said that insurance will cover much of its payout as a result of the Ever Given grounding in the Suez Canal and subsequent blocking of the canal for six days and then detention for several months.
Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding, whose subsidiary owns ULCV Ever Given, said on Monday that insurance will cover “to some extent” the compensation it has to pay out. The company held a press conference at which Yukito Higaki, president of Imabari and its affiliate Shoei Kisen, told reporters that the accident will have “no major impact” on its earnings.
Higaki said that it took some time to reach settlement because both parties had difficulty agreeing on a price. The size of the settlement has not yet been disclosed, although one has to expect that some kind of figure will eventually appear when annual accounts are published.
Higaki expressed gratitude to the Suez Canal Authority, saying: “I think this became an opportunity for us to deepen relations.” Imabari’s business model is unique in that it operates both as a shipbuilder and sea transportation company.
He said the company had no intention of ending its container shipping operations, despite the Suez Canal accident.
Imabari announced that revenue for the year ended March fell 2.5% to ¥371bn ($3.3bn). Imabari is controlled by the tight-knit Higaki family and is a private company and does not need to disclose its annual net income, but it said that it had turned a profit.