EVER GIVEN successfully passed through Egypt’s Suez Canal in its return journey: Admiral Osama Rabie

CAIRO - 20 August 2021: The Panama-flagged container ship EVER GIVEN that had blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021,  successfully passed through the navigation course on Friday, announced head the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) admiral Osama Rabie in a statement.

 

“The navigation movement in the canal witnessed today, Friday, a successful crossing of the giant Panamanian container ship EVER GIVEN with the northern convoy [22 other ships],” he said, adding that the ship was coming from the United Kingdom and heading to China.

 

 

The giant ship was escorted by two tugboats Mosaed 1 and Mosaed 2 during its journey in the canal.

 

A total of 62 ships passed through the canal on Friday in both directions, with a total net tonnage of 3.5 million tons.

 

 

Ever Given, a Japanese-owned 400-meter-long container ship, operating under Panama’s flag, was only allowed to leave Egyptian waters last month after signing a settling agreement with the Suez Canal Authority.

 

Being stranded in the international route for six days, Ever Given blocked the movement of hundreds of ships, causing the canal to lose millions of dollars.

 

The ship will pass through Ismailia, Suez and the Red Sea in its return journey.

 

After it was freed on March 29, the ship was escorted to the Bitter Lakes for technical inspection, crew interrogation, and black box analysis.

 

Afterward, an Egyptian economic court in Ismailia issued a decision to seize the ship at the canal until paying compensation for damages it caused due to the grounding, besides the costs of the salvage operation.

 

In May, the Suez Canal Authority reduced the amount of compensation claims for the damages caused by the grounding of the ship from $916 million to $600 million.

 

Late in June, the Suez Canal Authority said it reached a settlement with the owner of the massive ship. The SCA did not reveal the details of the agreement but said it was satisfactory.