The SCA Calculator above seems to be defective.
I entered Ever Given specs and it gave me mere $500 000 instead of 1 billion dollars.
2 Likes
From the tool I learned that the Ever Given due to the large draft of 15.4 m had to take a mandatory tug. I cannot remember that such a tug was mentioned assisting the ship. If it was a Dinky Toy tug it probably was of no use for a VLCS as the Ever Given.
Due to the size of the vessel mandatory tug will be added to calculations. This applies to vessels bigger than 14.33 meters.
1 Like
The share of the Taiwanese transport company owning the ship blocking the Suez Canal has risen sharply in value since the start of the incident that disrupted world trade.
Shares of the Evergreen Marine Corporation have appreciated 28 percent since the Ever Given was trapped in the Suez Canal on March 23, causing an epic traffic jam of more than 400 cargo ships.
Transportation tariffs are steadily rising as the world struggles out of the pandemic. The blockade of the canal has only exacerbated port congestion and increased demand for shipping. The blockade of the Suez Canal has only added oil to demand and prices. Container shipping rates have quadrupled since the beginning of last year.
A shortage of containers and problems with the logistics to get ships back to Asia are driving higher transport rates for the rest of the year is the expectation. In addition, air traffic is still limited due to the pandemic and companies are more often opting for shipping to transport their goods.
Iâve transited the Suez Canal as Captain over 25 times, some transits before the new canal project was completed and some after. I seem to recall hearing (hearsay) that the pilots make around $300 per shift. If they work 2 ships that day, then $600/day. And add whatever negotiated American cigarettes to that. Maersk (beginning with their US flagged ships) started to deny âpresentsâ; "gifts; âbaksheeshâ or whatever youâd like to call it back around 2015. There was a lot of pushback from the pilots; canal agents; line boatmen; electrician; and that made it very difficult for the Captain. Canal paperwork was scrutinized much closer for any errors, no matter how slight in the hopes that a mistake would coerce the captain into either paying a fine or relenting to the demands for cigarettes. One trip on my ship (the other captain was aboard), a pilot refused to give helm orders due to not getting his âgiftsâ. This incident was reported to the SZC pilot association to which the pilot denied the incident from happening. Fortunately this was caught on the ships CCTV and was played back to the SZC pilot assoc. The embarrassment of that led to our transits being more civil. Now that didnât stop the agents; pilots; boatmen; electricians; etc. from asking for cigarettes, but it emboldened Maersk to have all their ships cut out giving âgiftsâ. To my knowledge, all US flag Maersk ships no longer hand out gifts and I would say many if not most foreign flag Maersk ships do likewise. That eliminated handing out 15 to 30 cartons of smokes per transit, depending on the circumstances. Of course to encourage this, MLL (US Maersk) stopped allowing captains to write off the smokes as a business expense. Add up all of those smokes with all of the Maersk ships transiting and it comes down to some real $$$. I retired in the summer of 2017 so I canât speak of todays practice, but believe it to be the same.
2 Likes
The Ever Given that blocked the Suez Canal for days at the end of March remains detained. An Egyptian court has dismissed the ownerâs appeal against the previous seizure.
Authorities are seeking damages of $ 900 million ($ 750 million) from the shipâs owners. That is the amount that Egypt spent on the rescue operation. In April, the court allowed the 400-meter ship to be impounded, while talks about compensation for Egypt were being discussed.
The SCA was conducting investigations into the cause of the shipâs grounding, but has yet to announce the results.
Egypt offered to reduce claims by a third for compensation from owners of the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March, Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie told MBC Masr channel television channel.
The canal authority said it would reduce the claims for compensation to $600 million from $900 million, according to Rabie. The SCA also offered payment terms to owners of the Ever Given container ship but they have yet to respond, he said.
Cold feet?
UK Club said the reduced amount proposed had not been reflected in SCAâs claim filed at court.
âThe Ever Givenâs owners still have not been provided with evidence that would support a claim of this size, which remains exceptionally large. The Ever Givenâs interests continue to negotiate in good faith with the SCA,â it added.
An Egyptian economic court is due to hold a hearing on May 22 to consider the SCA claim for what it describes as losses due to the blockage and costs for dislodging the ship, SCA sources said.
An Egyptian investigation into the incident found no wrongdoing by the SCA or its pilots, the sources said, without elaborating.
One source said the court could authorize the SCA to auction off the ship if the owner rejected any ruling to compensate the canal authority. Rabie has also mentioned such an outcome.
1 Like
Whoever, in the real world, would be foolish enough to topple the North Korean bid of 9999 USD?
The claim rebateâs coincidence with the absurd amount of 300 mio USD for âreputation lossesâ may not be entirely fortuitous. How could a zero-reputation lose value?
On the contrary, they earned a lot of reputation⌠as the worldâs prime extortionist country.
4 Likes
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who also spoke at the event, stressed he doesnât want to mobilize âhugeâ public funding for the project, according to Bloomberg.
Yeah, we already know how they are planning to pay for it 
Iâm sure $1B from Evergreen will make a nice startâŚ
3 Likes
And should provide the impetus for a second non-Egyptian canal or an insurance surcharge large enough to dry up the SCA.
Interesting developments. Defense lawyers claim that due to bad weather the ship should never have been allowed to enter the canal. Also at least two tugs should have accompanied the ship due to these circumstances.
The court is expected to issue today a decision on the case.
1 Like
Klaveness and Dutchie have a clue. SCA is losing a bit of ground and $$$ OOPS. Does the canal need to be improved, absolutely. On Evergreens back⌠no and hell no⌠On Evergreens event, Yes
Egyptian tactics, winning time.,
On Sunday, a court in Ismailia, a city on the canal, declared that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case. It also dismissed an appeal lodged by the shipâs owners against the seizure. It was also decided to refer the case to another court, according to SCA attorney Naser Farag. The new hearings will start on Saturday, he says.
One may think someone is throwing stones against ones doorstep. What a sucky neighborhood the world has to transit through.
1 Like
A similar accident took place in the Suez Canal in April 2019 with the mv APL Danube. Also here the combined effect of Bank Cushion and Bank Suction caused the vessel to take a sudden and decided sheer towards the opposite bank. In both cases the ships did not respond to the helm or engine orders.
The ship is rotated clockwise by the two opposite forces represented by the two red arrows. Rudder action cannot stop the rotating moment.
APL Danube was leaving Little Bitter Lake to proceed Southbound through the last leg of the Canal. VDR data indicated that during this time, the vessel was closer to the Eastern side of the channel. Helm orders were constantly being given by the pilot to correct the vesselâs heading, however, shortly before reaching the garage at Km 133 in the Canal, the helmsman reported that the vessel was swinging to starboard. Attempts to correct her heading by rudder and engine movements were futile, and the vessel eventually ran aground.
1 Like
Two tugs wouldnât have stopped the groundings, especially once the speeds exceeded 8 knots (probably less).
Whatever they get out of Evergreen, good for them. Remember these were the guys that got with magic pipes after discharging oil in the Columbia River.
The Canal improvements will come at the expense of Evergreen and any other stake holders that use the Canal in the form of increased tariffs and surcharges and thatâs fair. If you want a better service you have to pay for it. It seems to be forgotten that the Suez Canal is not a public utility, rather a business run by the Egyptian government and foreign carriers use it at their own risk and convenience. The same Carriers that choose not to flag ships in the US unless there is a subsidy.
To be honest Iâm not sure that Companies that utilizes the Suez really want that much of a change. They would rather keep it the way it is and not have to pay increased transit fees.
Agree 1883, at those speeds once the ship got swinging from bank effect, extra tugs would not have helped much. Probably would have torn up some tugs and their lines as well.
2 Likes
Looks like according to latest news on GCaptain, SCA is reducing their original claim by almost half. Still way too much.
An Egypt court on Saturday adjourned a case on the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal to allow for more time to negotiate for a compensation.
The court in Ismailia town postponed the hearing to June 20 after requests from lawyers representing the Suez Canal Authority and the owner of the 400-meter-long Ever Given.