Suez Canal Authority And Insurers Close To A Deal On Ever Given Compensation

*Container ship has been stuck in waterway for almost three
months due to grounding, legal dispute

[wsj] The owner and insurers of the Ever Given, the container
ship that blocked the Suez Canal for days, disrupting global
shipping, reached a preliminary deal with the Suez Canal Authority
to release the vessel, according to the U.K. insurance group
helping lead negotiations.

The U.K.’s P&I Club said an agreement in principle had been
reached that should allow the vessel to sail. It said it was
working with the owner of the Ever Given, other insurance companies
and the SCA to finalize a deal. “Once the formalities have been
dealt with, arrangements for the release of the vessel will be
made,” it said.

The container ship blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in
March before being dislodged from the banks of the canal. The SCA
had demanded compensation for damage to the canal before it would
allow the ship to resume its voyage. The insurer, in its statement
Wednesday, didn’t specify the terms of the preliminary agreement.
The SCA couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

The ship could be allowed to continue its journey as early as
the next few days, according to people familiar with the
matter.

Osama Rabie, chairman of the SCA, told state-run television in
April that the agency was demanding payment for the costs of the
rescue operation, damages to the banks of the canal and lost
revenues. An Egyptian court ordered the seizure of the ship,
claiming about $900 million in compensation.

The preliminary deal announced Wednesday calls for about $200
million in compensation, according to people familiar with it.
Spokespeople for the ship’s charterer, Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine
Corp. , the vessel’s technical manager, Bernhard Schulte
Shipmanagement, and the ship owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. of
Japan, declined to comment.

The Ever Given hit the bank of the canal and became lodged
lengthwise across the crucial waterway, blocking passage from both
directions. A global shipping traffic jam ensued, with vessels
anchoring on either side of the waterway as they waited for it to
be cleared. Other ships rerouted around the canal.

The blockage added to a series of events that have wreaked havoc
on the world’s supply lines. A global chip shortage has beleaguered
the auto industry. A cold snap in Texas hit plastics production.
Containers, the metal boxes in which shippers pack goods for
transport by sea, were already in short supply before the Ever
Given scrambled the careful choreography that goes into making sure
those boxes get to where they need to be.

The Ever Given is laden with goods that are now months late.
Roderick de la Houssaye, owner of Rotterdam-based logistics service
company Nedcargo International BV, said one of his containers on
board contains merchandise, like hats and T-shirts, for a Formula
One race in Portugal. That event was in early May.

“They are now worthless,” he said. Mr. de la Houssaye said his
clients have over $1 million worth of goods on the Ever Given,
including children’s swimwear and other summer clothing destined
for the Netherlands. Even if the ship is cleared within days to
resume its voyage, that stock will miss the selling season and need
to be sold at a discount, he said.

Jan Unander, chief executive of Swedish automotive supplier UNIC
AB, also has goods aboard the ship. He thought he had found a
solution to replace deliveries that were stuck on the Ever Given.
He found a ship from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, one of
the world’s busiest ports, that could take his Chinese-made parts.
But the city’s container port was recently hit by a Covid-19
outbreak among dockworkers. That brought traffic to a virtual
standstill. Mr Unander was forced to redirect his goods to Ningbo,
another Chinese port. “I hope to finally ship them next week,” he
said.

*Container ship has been stuck in waterway for almost three
months due to grounding, legal dispute

[wsj] The owner and insurers of the Ever Given, the container
ship that blocked the Suez Canal for days, disrupting global
shipping, reached a preliminary deal with the Suez Canal Authority
to release the vessel, according to the U.K. insurance group
helping lead negotiations.

The U.K.’s P&I Club said an agreement in principle had been
reached that should allow the vessel to sail. It said it was
working with the owner of the Ever Given, other insurance companies
and the SCA to finalize a deal. “Once the formalities have been
dealt with, arrangements for the release of the vessel will be
made,” it said.

The container ship blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in
March before being dislodged from the banks of the canal. The SCA
had demanded compensation for damage to the canal before it would
allow the ship to resume its voyage. The insurer, in its statement
Wednesday, didn’t specify the terms of the preliminary agreement.
The SCA couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

The ship could be allowed to continue its journey as early as
the next few days, according to people familiar with the
matter.

Osama Rabie, chairman of the SCA, told state-run television in
April that the agency was demanding payment for the costs of the
rescue operation, damages to the banks of the canal and lost
revenues. An Egyptian court ordered the seizure of the ship,
claiming about $900 million in compensation.

The preliminary deal announced Wednesday calls for about $200
million in compensation, according to people familiar with it.
Spokespeople for the ship’s charterer, Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine
Corp. , the vessel’s technical manager, Bernhard Schulte
Shipmanagement, and the ship owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. of
Japan, declined to comment.

The Ever Given hit the bank of the canal and became lodged
lengthwise across the crucial waterway, blocking passage from both
directions. A global shipping traffic jam ensued, with vessels
anchoring on either side of the waterway as they waited for it to
be cleared. Other ships rerouted around the canal.

The blockage added to a series of events that have wreaked havoc
on the world’s supply lines. A global chip shortage has beleaguered
the auto industry. A cold snap in Texas hit plastics production.
Containers, the metal boxes in which shippers pack goods for
transport by sea, were already in short supply before the Ever
Given scrambled the careful choreography that goes into making sure
those boxes get to where they need to be.

The Ever Given is laden with goods that are now months late.
Roderick de la Houssaye, owner of Rotterdam-based logistics service
company Nedcargo International BV, said one of his containers on
board contains merchandise, like hats and T-shirts, for a Formula
One race in Portugal. That event was in early May.

“They are now worthless,” he said. Mr. de la Houssaye said his
clients have over $1 million worth of goods on the Ever Given,
including children’s swimwear and other summer clothing destined
for the Netherlands. Even if the ship is cleared within days to
resume its voyage, that stock will miss the selling season and need
to be sold at a discount, he said.

Jan Unander, chief executive of Swedish automotive supplier UNIC
AB, also has goods aboard the ship. He thought he had found a
solution to replace deliveries that were stuck on the Ever Given.
He found a ship from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, one of
the world’s busiest ports, that could take his Chinese-made parts.
But the city’s container port was recently hit by a Covid-19
outbreak among dockworkers. That brought traffic to a virtual
standstill. Mr Unander was forced to redirect his goods to Ningbo,
another Chinese port. “I hope to finally ship them next week,” he
said.