Egypt could seek $1 billion in damages for Suez Canal crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - Egypt said it may seek around $1 billion in compensation after a giant container vessel blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week and roiled shipping markets, Bloomberg reports.

The figure is a rough estimate of losses linked to transit fees, damage to the waterway during the dredging and salvage efforts, and the cost of equipment and labor, the Suez Canal Authority’s chief executive officer, Osama Rabie, said late Wednesday to local television channel Sada Elbalad.

He did not specify who the Canal Authority would seek compensation from.

“This is the right of the country,” Rabie said, adding that the incident hurt Egypt’s reputation. “This country should get its due.”

The 400-meter-long Ever Given ship, owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., ran aground on March 23 in the southern part of the canal and was freed six days later.

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp., the vessel’s charterer, has said it’s not responsible for delays of any cargo it was transporting.

“There is almost no chance that we will be sought to pay compensation,” Evergreen Marine President Eric Hsieh said at a briefing in Taipei. Shoei Kisen will discuss compensation with the Canal Authority, but will refrain from giving details for now, according to a spokesperson.