CAIRO – Egypt will not release the massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in March until the owners agree to pay a billion dollars in compensation, according to local authorities, as they investigate how the Ever Given stuck and closed one of ‘ the world’s major waterways.
“The ship will remain here until the investigation is completed and compensation is paid,” Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said on Thursday on state television in Egypt.
“We hope for a speedy agreement,” he said. “The moment they agree to compensation, the ship is allowed to move.”
Mr Rabie did not say on Thursday what amount the Egyptian authorities were seeking as compensation. But he said last week that Egypt would demand $ 1 billion for the cost of the operation to free the ship, the loss of transit costs – a major source of foreign exchange for Egypt – and other costs of the channel blockage, which is a traffic jam from more than 400 ships on either side of the canal.
The Suez Canal Authority has not said how Mr. Rabie arrived at that figure or how much it spent to free the ship. The blockade cost the Egyptian state $ 95 million in foregone transit fees, according to a review by Refinitiv, a London-based financial analysis firm. But Egyptian officials also said they would recoup the lost income if they resumed traffic through the canal.