By John Ikani
The owners and insurers of the Ever Given container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March said on Sunday a formal settlement had been agreed in a compensation dispute, and the canal authority said the vessel would be allowed to sail on July 7.
The authority did not reveal details on the settlement deal with the Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the Japanese owner of the Ever Given. It said the deal will be signed in a ceremony in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Wednesday.
The vessel would be also freed Wednesday, it said.
The 400m-long (1,312ft) Ever Given became wedged across the canal after running aground amid high winds.
It was freed six days later following a salvage operation that involved a flotilla of tug boats and dredging vessels, and during which one person was killed.
Global trade was disrupted as hundreds of ships had to wait to pass through the 193km (120-mile) waterway, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.
The head of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, said last month the parties had agreed on a compensation amount. But he said it would not be made public as they had signed a non-disclosure agreement until the signing of the final contract.
He said the canal will receive a tug boat with a pulling capacity of about 75 tonnes as part of a settlement, without mentioning any other details.
“We preserved the rights of the authority in full, preserved our relationship with the company and also political relations with Japan,” he told a private TV channel on Sunday evening.
