Settlement agreed to release ship that blocked Suez Canal

Ismailia - Japanese-owned Ever Given had become stuck in high winds and remained wedged across the canal for six days, disrupting global trade

The owners and insurers of the Ever Given container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March said on Sunday a formal settlement had been agreed in a compensation dispute, and the canal authority said the vessel would be allowed to sail on July 7.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has held the giant ship and its crew in a lake between two stretches of the waterway since it was dislodged on March 29, amid a dispute over a demand for compensation by the SCA.

The Japanese-owned Ever Given had become stuck in high winds and remained wedged across the canal for six days, disrupting global trade.

“Preparations for the release of the vessel will be made and an event marking the agreement will be held at the authority’s headquarters in Ismailia in due course,” Faz Peermohamed of Stann Marine, which represents owner Shoei Kisen and its insurers, said in a statement.

The SCA said the settlement contract would be signed on Wednesday at a ceremony, and that participants would be able to watch the ship leaving.

Earlier on Sunday, an Egyptian court adjourned hearings in the compensation dispute to July 11 to allow the canal and the ship’s owner to finalise a settlement, court sources and a lawyer said.