Egypt expects a breakthrough in Ever Given-Suez Canal talks soon – official

Egypt expects a breakthrough in settlement talks with the Japanese owner of Ever Given container ship, which blocked traffic in Suez Canal for six days in March, coming “in the coming days or week,” Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

Negotiations between the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and the shipowner Shoei Kisen Kaisha over the amount of compensation claim are proceeding in a “positive direction,” Khaled Abu Bakr, an advisor to the SCA chairman, said at a conference.

The shipowner “showed good intentions and appreciation to the Egyptian role” in dislodging the Ever Given from the narrow waterway in March, Abu Bakr added.

The Egyptian official’s remarks came a day after the Ismailia Economic Court postponed until 20 June a hearing in the $550 million lawsuit filed by the SCA over its compensation claims 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 Suez Canal, with the authority initially demanding $916 million in compensation for damages. The SCA has cut the amount several times as it eventually reached $550 million, but insurers are reportedly willing to pay out $150 million only.

The canal authority will put forward a new calculation of the cost of rescuing the ship during the hearing later this month, SCA lawyer Nabil Zidan said on Sunday.