Back to the complete issue
Monday, 31 May 2021

A solution to the Ever Given spat could be found within a week

An imminent breakthrough in Ever Given talks? A breakthrough in settlement talks between the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and the owners of the Ever Given container ship might be coming “in the coming days or week,” Khaled Abu Bakr, an advisor to the SCA chairman, said at a presser yesterday, according to Bloomberg. Negotiations between the two sides over the size of compensation demand are proceeding in a “positive direction” as shipowner Shoei Kisen “showed good intentions and appreciation to the Egyptian role” in dislodging the Ever Given from the narrow waterway in March, Abu Bakr said.

This came a day after the Ismailia Economic Court postponed until 20 June a hearing in the USD 550 mn lawsuit filed by the SCA over its compensation demands for the six-day blockage of the canal. The two sides have been at loggerheads over how much the shipping company’s insurers should pay out to the SCA, with the authority initially demanding USD 916 mn in damages. The authority has since slashed this to USD 550 mn, but insurers are reportedly willing to only pay out USD 150 mn. The SCA will put forward a new calculation of the cost of rescuing the ship during the hearing later this month, SCA lawter Nabil Zidan said yesterday.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.