Ship Ever Given that blocked Suez Canal released

The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, resumed its journey to leave the Suez Canal on Wednesday, 106 days after becoming wedged across a southern section of the waterway for nearly a week and disrupting global trade.

The development came after its Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, reached a settlement with canal authorities over a compensation amount following weeks of negotiations and a court standoff.

The settlement deal was signed in a ceremony on Wednesday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, after which the vessel was seen sailing to the Mediterranean Sea.

Shoei Kisen said the vessel would undergo a dive survey in Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Port Said before resuming the voyage to the next port where its cargo will be discharged.

The 400-metre (1,310-foot) vessel is loaded with about 18,300 containers. Footage broadcast on Egyptian TV showed the captain and another crew member being presented with a bouquet of flowers and a plaque on board the ship.

“We regret the impact that the voyage delay has had on those with cargo stuck onboard,” Shoei Kisen said in a statement.

“Throughout this matter, every effort has been made to minimise the delay and to secure the release of the vessel as quickly as possible.”

Wednesday’s release came a day after an Egyptian court lifted the judicial seizure of the vessel following the Suez Canal Authority’s notification that it reached a settlement with the vessels’ owners and insurers.

Officials did not reveal details on the terms of the settlement. At first, the Suez Canal Authority demanded $916m in compensation, which was later lowered to $550m. In addition to the money, local reports said the canal would also receive a tugboat.

The money, according to canal authorities, would cover the salvage operation, costs of stalled canal traffic, and lost transit fees for the six days the Ever Given had blocked the crucial waterway.

Extraordinary event

The Panama-flagged vessel was on its way to the Dutch port of Rotterdam on March 23 when it slammed into the bank of a single-lane stretch of the canal about 6km (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

Its bow had touched the eastern wall of the canal, while its stern looked lodged against the western wall – an extraordinary event that experts said they had never heard of happening in the canal’s 150-year history.

A massive salvage effort by a flotilla of tugboats helped by the tides freed the skyscraper-sized vessel six days later, ending the crisis, and allowing hundreds of waiting ships to pass through the canal.

The blockage of the Suez Canal forced some ships at the time to take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip, requiring additional fuel and other costs. Hundreds of other ships waited in place for the blockage to end.

The shutdown, which raised worries of supply shortages and rising costs for consumers, added strain on the shipping industry already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.