"Ever Given" owners blame the authorities

The owners of the container ship "Ever Given", which blocked the Suez Canal for days after an accident in March, believe that the Egyptian authorities are responsible for the incident. A lawyer for the Japanese "Ever Given" owner Shoei Kisen told the Reuters news agency that an Egyptian commercial court had been shown that the canal authority SCA had allowed the container giants to enter the canal despite bad weather. Therefore, the approximately $ 900 million in damages that the SCA is demanding from the owner are not justified. In addition, the authority could not prove any fault on the part of the ship. The "Ever Given", with a length of 400 meters one of the world's largest container ships, had stood sideways in the Suez Canal on March 23rd in a strong wind. The 193 kilometer long canal is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Hundreds of ships had to wait several days for their onward journey because of the accident, which led to delays in world trade and supply chains. Since the "Ever Given" with its almost 14,000 containers was towed free at the end of March, it has been held by the Egyptian authorities. It should only be allowed to continue after the payment of damages. According to lawyers, a decision by the Egyptian court in the city of Ismailia is expected on Sunday. The Suez Canal was opened for the first time in 1869 and has been expanded ever since to keep up with the increasing shipping traffic and larger ships. In 1956 the waterway was nationalized and became one of the main sources of foreign currency in the country. Over the past few years, an average of 40 to 60 ships have passed through the canal every day. It was last expanded in 2015.