The owners of a gigantic container ship that had blocked the Suez Canal in late March have made a fresh offer in an ongoing compensation dispute with the canal authority, one of the authority’s lawyers said on Sunday.
The Ever Given has been anchored in a lake between two stretches of the canal from the time it had been dislodged on March 29. The 400-meter vessel had been grounded across the Suez Canal for six days straight, choking global trade.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) had demanded a compensation of $916 million to cover reputational damage, salvage efforts, and lost revenue, before lowering the request publicly to $550 million.
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The ship’s Japanese owners and insurers have disputed the aforesaid claim and its detention per the order of an Egyptian court.
Negotiations continued until Saturday. Khaled Abu Bakr, an SCA lawyer, told a court ruling over Ever Given’s detention in Ismailia. Shoei Kisen, the owner, had given a fresh offer, he said, without sharing more information.
The SCA’s chairman had said earlier that Shoei Kisen had proposed to make a payment of $150 million.
On Sunday, a court hearing was due after delays. However, the legal team of Shoei Kisen has requested more time for negotiation, one of the lawyers has said.
The case was postponed till July 4 to permit a”friendly settlement” between the two parties.
This week one of the insurers of Ever Given, UK Club, said it had engaged in constructive negotiations with the SCA team and was also hopeful to come to a positive resolution to the negotiations in the future.
Reference: voanews.com
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