CAIRO: Egypt will not release the massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in March until its owners agree to pay up to $ 1 billion in compensation, according to local authorities, as they investigate how it obtained the Never given blocked and closed one of the most important waterways in the world.
“The ship will remain here until the investigations are completed and compensation is paid,” Osama Rabie, president of the Suez Canal Authority, told Egyptian state television on Thursday.
“We’re looking forward to a quick deal,” he said. “The moment they accept compensation, the ship will be allowed to move.”
Rabie did not say on Thursday how much 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 traffic rates – a major source of foreign exchange for Egypt – and other costs for blocking the canal, which caused a traffic jam of more than 400 ships on both sides of the canal.
The Suez Canal Authority has not said how Mr. Rabie came to that figure, including what he invested in freeing the ship. According to an assessment by Refinitiv, a London-based financial analysis firm, the blockade cost the Egyptian state $ 95 million in lost traffic expenses. But Egyptian officials also said they would recover lost revenue when they resumed traffic on the canal.