Suez Canal Authorities (SCA) at fault over stranding Ever Given, says Japanese owner

World's largest container ship, MV Ever Given that had stranded sideways blocking Egypt’s key maritime route Suez Canal was caused due to the negligence of the Suez Canal authorities, an attorney disputing the compensation claims said Saturday. The Suez Canal Authority had earlier last month slapped a $916.5 million claim against Japanese vessel owner Shoei Kisen after the vessel ran aground and halted the world’s supply of goods cargoes, and oil tankers causing a massive backlog and trade loss worth billions.

The head of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie in a live interview with state TV had said that the Ever Given container ship, which ran aground in the waterway for almost a week, was seized near Bitter Lakes and will not be allowed to sail until it paid the compensation.  

"The investigation establishes those who are responsible for the accident and so designates the sides, which will pay compensation," Rabie told a news conference. "The Suez Canal is not to be blame for the accident, it is the affected party,” he had stressed. "Strong winds have never led to closing the canal," Rabia noted, adding that the vessel’s captain bears sole responsibility for directing the vessel. 

He furthermore emphasized, that the MV Ever Green’s marine pilot fulfils the consultative function of steering the ship, as he reiterated that it was “always up to the ship’s captain to make final decisions."

On Saturday, however, a lawyer for the  Japanese company Shohei Kisen argued that the Panamanian flagged vessel veered off its course because the SCA had insisted that the ship was “good to enter” the waterway during the bad weather. And therefore, the strong winds and sandstorms lodged the giant container ship at an angle across the waterway. The Ship company held the canal authority guilty and at fault for the incident. It said in an official press release on the website that it had submitted all the data of the voyage information recorder ‘VDR’ to the investigators of the Suez Canal Authority, and has been cooperating with the inspection necessary for the accident investigation. 

[This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt. Authorities prepared to make new attempts to free the giant container vessel stuck for the fifth day and reopen a crucial east-west waterway for global shipping. Credit: ©Maxar Technologies via AP]

[Credit: ©Maxar Technologies via AP]

The 1,300-foot container ship MV Ever Given was seized by the Egyptian authorities last month and since then has not been allowed to leave the anchorage of Great Bitter Lake. Egypt asked the Panama flagged ship company to pay billions of dollars in compensation for blockage of the strategic global trade waterways that incurred the Mideast nation an estimated $95 million in transit fee. The country incurred a cumulative revenue loss of $16 million per day, according to the London based financial data firm, Refinitiv after the mammoth after MV Ever Given had wedged slantways in Egypt’s key maritime navigational artery in the Suez Canal, and was dislodged by Salvors on the sixth day.

Probe to ascertain mechanical or technical glitch

A probe was ordered to determine whether the gush of winds or either the mechanical or technical snag had lodged the 400-meter-long (1,312-foot) gigantic ship in the canal. An Egyptian government-owned news outlet Ahram Gate reported that The Suez Canal Authority has secured a formal court order to seize the container ship Ever Given for "failure to pay an amount of $ 900 million." Ever Given, owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, was bound for the Netherlands loaded with almost 220,000 tons of goods and was traversing from China.