Egypt seizes the Ever Given, demanding $1B for Suez Canal jam

The story appears to be just that damages have now been set; the rest of the story is buried at the very bottom of the article:<p><pre><code> Investigations of how the Ever Given became lodged sideways in the canal are continuing. In a recent interview, Rabie suggested the captain could have &quot;made a mistake&quot; with the ship&#x27;s steering or speed, according to Kyodo News. He emphasized that the two Suez Canal pilots who were on board to offer guidance were not ultimately responsible for making decisions and dismissed the idea that strong winds had pushed the ship off course. Rabie did not cite any evidence or say how he arrived at that conclusion. </code></pre> Apparently this is just a repost of Kyodo News - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;this.kiji.is&#x2F;753782748916957184?c=445918389795193953" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;this.kiji.is&#x2F;753782748916957184?c=445918389795193953</a>

The ship was being steered through the canal by two Suez Canal pilots. Not sure how they’re going to pin the blame on anyone but themselves.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;world&#x2F;2021&#x2F;03&#x2F;29&#x2F;suez-canal-pilots&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;world&#x2F;2021&#x2F;03&#x2F;29&#x2F;suez-canal-p...</a>

Now every ship has a 1B potential liability when transiting.<p>What a great way for Egypt to turn what was a near-disaster into a full disaster. They didn&#x27;t lose out that much, everyone is playing happy families. Then they do this. Fail on so many levels. Well done Egypt in screwing over your golden goose.

&gt;dismissed the idea that strong winds had pushed the ship off course.<p>&gt;Rabie did not cite any evidence or say how he arrived at that conclusion.<p>Shouldn&#x27;t the burden of proof be on the ship owners to show that they did everything to prevent the accident? Its like saying &quot;He may have smashed his car into your house, but have you proved that the road was not extremely icey?&quot; No, but the guy who smashed his car into my house should have to prove it was. I shouldnt have to prove it wasnt. He is the one responsible for his vehicle.

I don&#x27;t know how much container ships cost or how they&#x27;re insured. I&#x27;m sure it&#x27;s exquisitely leveraged and very complicated. ...But, is it plausible that the ship&#x27;s operator just calls it a total loss and lets Egypt deal with a floating clunker in its waters, or would Egypt simply turn around and sell it?

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.is&#x2F;pjFzY" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.is&#x2F;pjFzY</a>

Egypt failed to keep the canal dredged. Desert sands are blown into the canal and it&#x27;s the canal authority&#x27;s duty to remove the sand and keep the canal bottom clear. The Ever Given was blown out of shape in a desert dust storm and hung up on mounds of sand. If kept properly dredged, after the storm was over the ship should have been able to move back into the center of the channel on its own but failed due to accumulated sand along the sides. The fees that would have paid for sufficient canal dredging went elsewhere.

Egyptian judges are highly motivated to rule how Sisi tells them.<p>Assuming Ever Given&#x27;s insurers get stuck for the entire billion, the ensuing premiums for Suez transit for similar sized ships might just make routing around the Cape more economic. If there&#x27;s a 1&#x2F;2,000 chance of getting stuck in the Suez, the insurer would need a premium of $500,000 to break even. So the ship can either spend the $500,000 on Suez premium or on fuel to go around the cape.<p>Which will of course deprive Egypt of the fees it charges large ships.

World shipping has 2 options: spend a lot of time and fuel and money going around Africa or deal with one of the more corrupt and dishonest countries and just hope for the best every time...