SUEZ CANAL OK WITH OUT-OF-COURT DEAL AFTER EVER GIVEN FIASCO

The Suez Canal is ready to accept an out-of-court settlement with a massive container ship that blocked the vital waterway for almost a week last month, an Egyptian official has said, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

The Panama-flagged ship, Ever Given, was refloated on March 29, six days after it ran aground during a sandstorm and blocked the canal, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. The 400-meter-long vessel is now anchored at the Great Lakes area, a wider section of the canal, for examination.

Osama Rabae, the head of the Suez Canal Authority, said the state operator of the passage is conducting a breakdown of the losses it incurred during the blockage to negotiate a financial deal with the owners of the ship.

“They want to settle it cordially. I have no problem. What we want is to get our rights. We have suffered financial, moral and technical harms,” he added in remarks aired on Egyptian privately-owned station

He previously estimated the compensation at about $1 billion. “This was an initial estimate. The figure can be a bit lower or higher." The Ever Given will remain in Egypt until investigations are completed and a compensation deal is reached, Rabae said.

The colossal tanker veered off its course when the crew lost visibility while sailing through the canal on a Rotterdam-bound voyage, resulting in a huge traffic jam. The Suez Canal provides one of Egypt's main sources of income, alongside tourism and remittances from expatriates. Revenue from the waterway reached $5.6 billion last year. The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, provides the shortest shipping route between Asia and Europe.

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