Suez Canal Authority  Slashes  “MV Ever Given” Compensation Claims To $600

Authority of  Suez Canal  has slashed its Ever Given compensation claims by nearly a third. The Egyptian body is now seeking $600m rather than $916m as negotiations stretch into another week to get the 400 m long vessel freed and able to get to its European destinations, seven weeks after it grounded, blocking the key waterway for six days.

After the ship was freed, it was towed to the Great Bitter Lakes and subsequently arrested.

General average has been declared by the ship’s owner, Shoei Kisen, with shippers braced for a big bill to get the 18,300 containers onboard moved to their European destinations.

Shoei Kisen has applied the International Convention on Limitation of Liability on the Ever Given, whereby it will aim to cap claims to a maximum of $115m.

“Egyptians are the world’s most consummate bargain specialists. I am reminded of the day when one of the Suez Canal crew embarked my ship at Port Suez and commenced negotiations to buy our used crane wires.

” At the outset, the gap between the asking price and the offer seemed insurmountable. However, the negotiations were never broken and the gap countinued to narrow at a pace just right enough to conclude a deal well before his disembarkation.

The case of Ever Given is no different, it is just a play at a different scale.