Egypt court upholds seizure of ship that blocked Suez Canal

An Egyptian court has rejected an appeal by the owner of a container ship, Ever Given, to overturn the court-ordered seizure of the vessel.

Ever Given became lodged across the Suez Canal in late March 2021, causing delays to shipping as the fight to free her extended to almost a week.

As reported by Marine Industry News, Egyptian authorities impounded Ever Given, with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) saying the vessel would not be allowed to leave the country until a compensation amount was settled on.

The SCA has asked for $916m in compensation, according to the UK Club, an insurer of the Ever Given.

Ever Given’s owner filed an appeal on April 22 to overturn the decision but the Economic Court of Ismailia has upheld the seizure decision.

According to ABC News, negotiations between the Suez Canal Authority and the shipowner were still ongoing to settle the compensation claim last week.

Japanese owner Shoei Kisen says it has notified a number of the owners of the approximately 18,000 containers on the ship to assume part of the damages demand. It refuses to disclose further details of the negotiations, including the amount covered by insurance and how much it is asking freight owners to share.

The SCA has been conducting investigations into the cause of the ship’s grounding, but has yet to announce the results.