Suez Canal blockage: compensation scaled down

On 23 March 2021, the container ship "Ever Given" blocked the Suez Canal (Egypt) for six days. The canal, which links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, is the gateway to 12% of the world's goods traffic. A few days following the incident, Lloyd's List, a specialized magazine, has estimated the daily cost of the canal blockage at nearly 9.6 million USD. Based on this figure, Allianz has estimated the total losses at between 6 and 10 billion USD.

In response to the damage sustained, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) claimed 916 million USD from the shipowner then lowered its demands to 550 million USD. After the initial negotiations between the SCA, the UK P&I Club and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI), which represents the three insurance companies of the container ship's operators, Egypt collected damages for the release of the container ship in July 2021. However, the SCA's demands were once again revised downwards, to 400 million USD.

It should be noted that the SCA is still negotiating with the various parties involved in the grounding of the "Ever Given". According to Africa Intelligence, the Suez Canal Authority could benefit from further compensation of up to 2 billion USD.