Finally, the Japanese owned M.V.Ever Given one of the worlds largest container vessel under charter with Evergreen is released after 3 months of negotiations between the Suez Canal Authorities and the Owners of M.V.Ever Given which ran aground in mid March.The 400 meters vessel with majority of Indian Crewmembers carries on board 18300 containers, comprising of both Refrigerated and Dry van containers .
The Taiwanese Shipping company “Evergreen” was operating the vessel on a long-term charter from the Ship Owners Shoei Kisen, when the vessel M.V.Ever Given ran aground. The Ship owners initially seriously considered shifting all the cargo containers to another Container ship. This was a physical challenge which required moving the vessel from anchorage in the canal’s Great Bitter Lake to Egypt’s nearby Seaport Ports Said, however this operation was finally dropped as it was considered an herculean task both physically and financially.
The Japanese Ship-owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, reached a settlement with the Canal authorities over a compensation amount after more than three months of deliberations and negotiations, the dead-lock between the two equally strong opponents finally paid off and the vessel was released.
The settlement agreement between the Owners and the Canal Authorities were signed on Wednesday in the city of Ismailia, Suez Canal. Later, the Egyptian Court gave the release order once they received intimation from the Suez Canal Authorities that they reached an agreement in its financial settlement between the Insurance company and the Ship owners.
The fund received as compensation, according to Canal authorities, would meet the expenses incured by them for the salvage operation, costs of stalled canal traffic and lost transit fees for the week that M.V.Ever Given had blocked the crucial east-west water passages traffic for 6 days in a stretch.
The Global Shipping and Logistics fraternity considered this release as a big relief to the trade which was gradually picking up after the slow-down with the effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
