Egyptian officials are asking for more than $1 billion in compensation to be paid to the state after the blockage of the Suez Canal caused trade routes to be closed for six days last week when the cargo ship Ever Given turned sideways in the canal.
Head of canal authority, Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, said in a phone interview, according to AP, the compensation cost takes into account the dredging and tugboat fees involved in the salvage operation, the cost of stalled traffic, and the lost transit fees while the cargo container sat in the canal for the week.
The hefty price tag would not be including the cost of delaying more than 400 ships and their cargo. The closure of the canal costs an estimated $10 billion a day.
"This is the right of the country ... it should get its due," Rabei told Sada ElBalad news, according to USA Today.
"I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given … thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again," said Peter Berdowski, CEO of salvage from Boskalis, which helped move the ship.
The news came after workers and crews dredged 30,000 cubic meters of sand, freeing the 220,000 ton behemoth.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi tweeted, "Today, the Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis of the delinquent ship in the Suez Canal despite the tremendous technical complexity that surrounded this process from every side," according to USA Today.
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