06 July 2021•Update: 06 July 2021
CAIRO
Following a settlement between the company and canal authorities, an Egyptian court on Tuesday ordered the release of the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal this March, local media reported.
“The ruling allows the ship to move starting from Wednesday to any destination it wants after reaching a fair and amicable settlement between the authority and the owner company,” news outlet Al-Shorouk said.
On Sunday, UK Club, an insurance company that insures the Ever Given vessel, announced that it had reached a formal solution with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
"Preparations for the release of the vessel will be made and an event marking the agreement will be held at the authority's headquarters in Ismailia in due course," UK Club said in a statement.
It also noted that the two sides agreed the negotiation details “remain confidential.”
On March 25, the 400-meter-long (1,312-foot) Ever Given, owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, was sailing from China to the Netherlands with almost 220,000 tons of goods when it ran aground in the canal.
The accident blocked international trade in one of the main waterways in the world, with more than 320 ships, including oil tankers, stuck at the entrances of the canal, sparking a crisis in the world supply chain, especially in Europe.
It took six days of joint efforts to pull the stuck loose and successfully refloat it.
The canal authority initially demanded $916.6 million in compensation but later lowered it to $550 million.
*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara
