UPDATE : Ever Given on its way to Rotterdam – Freedom, Freedom – Ever Given released and sailing from Suez Canal

Ever Given update : 12th July 2021

Further to the below article, today’s update is that the Ever Given is showing that it is sailing en route to Rotterdam which was its original destination before passing through and getting stuck in the Suez Canal.

Vessel Finder, Marine Traffic and various other vessel tracking sites are showing that the vessel is currently sailing in a Northwesterly direction heading towards Rotterdam with an ETA of 25th July.

This means that the Suez Canal/Egypt part of the saga of the Ever Given is complete and the next saga will be when the containers reaches its expected destinations and when the process of General Average and/or claims will take place.

There is no confirmation about the plans for the Ever Given containers whether all the boxes on board will be dropped off at one port say Rotterdam and all GA/claims matters consolidated there or whether the boxes will be moved to its individual destinations and handled there.

The sweet taste of freedom was probably being experienced by all concerned with the Ever Given as it was released by Suez Canal authorities on the 7th of July – a good 106 days after becoming one of the most talked about ships in the world, by even those who were not interested or knew about the business of shipping..

For those who may have been oblivious to what happened (if that is possible) or forgotten,

1. The Ever Given, a 399.94m long container ship owned by Japanese owners Shoei Kisen Kaisha, operated by Taiwanese shipping line Evergreen Marine, managed technically by German’s Bernard Schulte, registered in Panama, crewed by Indians and insured by UK P&I Club, wedged itself diagonally across the 225m Suez Canal on the 23rd of March 2021
2. On the 25th March 2021, the Suez Canal Authority officially announced the temporary suspension of navigation through the Suez Canal
3. The ship was freed and successfully refloated on 29th of March 2021 by which time, close to 400 vessels were queued up on both sides of the Canal
4. The Ever Given was towed from where it was stuck, to the Bitter Lakes area in the East Mediterranean to recuperate from the trauma that it was subjected to, what with people and machines tugging, pulling, pushing, digging around and under it
5. On the 1st of April, the vessel owners Shoei Kisen Kaisha, declared General Average
6. After inspection, the ship was cleared for the journey by its classification society, The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
7. On the 13th of April, the ship was arrested by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) in Egypt on the back of its claim for a sum of US$916 million on 7th of April 2021, to cover losses during the Ever Given’s grounding in the Suez Canal
8. The ship remained at the Bitter Lakes area under arrest by the Suez Canal Authority till its release on the 7th of July

As per Marine Traffic, the Ever Given is in the East Mediterranean, having departed the Suez Cana at 17:15 hrs on the 7th of July 2021 on its way to Port Said in Egypt..

The Suez Canal Authority signed the compensation settlement in the presence of representatives of the ship, allowing its release..

The ship will reported undergo a dive inspection of its hull while in Port Said before continuing on its scheduled China-Europe-Mediterranean Service (CEM)..

Images of the captain and crew member being presented with flowers and a plaque on board the ship shown on Egypt TV brought much relief to everyone including Tarek Alzeki, captain of a tug boat carrying reporters who said “May God let it arrive safely. It is a beautiful thing … we are happy, of course.“..

R P Veetil, general secretary of the Sailors Union of India, was reported as saying “We hope that these Indian seafarers come back to India very soon,” referring to the legal disputes around the grounding of the ship in the Suez Canal..

What about the compensation claim ?

At the beginning of the saga, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) had demanded $916 million to recover its losses including $300 million for salvage bonus and $300 million for loss of reputation..

The owners and insurers of the vessel disputed both the arrest of the ship and the compensation claim from SCA, leading to the SCA softening its stand, looking at releasing the Ever Given if they get a US$200m deposit in order to allow the vessel to proceed to its European destinations..

While this happened, lawyers for the vessel owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha has argued that the SCA was at fault for allowing the ship to enter the Canal during bad weather without at least two tug boats required for the safe navigation of a vessel of this size.. The Ever Given is 399.94m long, 59m wide with a depth of 32.9m..

The release is reported to have come on the back of an undisclosed settlement after protracted discussions between all parties with the agreement stipulating that neither party would make further claims..

SCA Chairman Osama Rabie is reported to have told said “the settlement comprised a lump sum and that some of it remained to be paid this month.“..

Reuters has reported Khalid Abubakr, a lawyer for the authority as saying “The SCA was committed to keeping the terms of the agreement confidential.“..

As per Reuters, Yukito Higaki of Imabari shipbuilding, of which Shoei Kisen is a subsidiary, thanked the SCA in a recorded statement..

“Our company has a large fleet of ships and will continue to be a regular and loyal customer of the Suez Canal, which in our view remains an indispensable asset for international maritime trade,” he said..

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has welcomed the settlement reached between the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., owner of the Ever Given..

In a press release, Guy Platten, secretary general of ICS, commented :

“We are grateful for the sake of the ship’s crew that the parties have reached a successful settlement.

You cannot put a price on the wellbeing of seafarers. The Ever Given crew is now free to continue their vital role in the global supply chain, and also travel home to their loved ones after three months of uncertainty.

The Ever Given incident shines a light on the importance of shipping to the global supply chain and the vital role that seafarers play in supporting the 14 trillion USD worth of trade each year.

I am proud of the way that ICS has been able to work quietly behind the scenes to bring the parties together and reach a mutually agreeable settlement. This is good news for the Egyptian authorities, good news for the owners and importantly good news for the crew.

The Suez incident cost $5.1 billion a day in world trade, however, this was a drop in the bucket in comparison to the financial and emotional costs that the entire industry has been having to deal with due to the draconian travel restrictions imposed on seafarers by all governments. Now that the Ever Given issue has been successfully concluded we must not forget the 1.5 million seafarers across the world.

There are many lessons to be learned from the in-depth inquiry still underway, but we are pleased to see the Ever Given sailing again.”

Conclusion

So, is it a case of all is well that ends well with the Ever Given..?? Well there is still the question of claims from the cargo owners of the cargo on board the Ever Given..

On the claims front, while no damage to any containers have been reported on the Ever Given itself, there are widespread conjectures that insurers are expecting the worst in terms of the claims that might be placed on them including General Average..

These claims are expected to be in the form of liability coverage claims from owners of the ships that have been delayed in their passage via the Suez Canal..

These claims could also include

• ship delays,
• cargo delays,
• factory and assembly line stoppages,
• loss of sales by various retailers,
• ship owners losing out on other employment due to the delays and
• potential penalties if the ships don’t reach the intended port of load or discharge in time

So, yeah, there is still a lot more to happen for the Ever Given..