UK Club, an insurer for the giant container ship Ever Given that blocked Egypt's Suez Canal in March, said on Wednesday it is currently engaged in "serious and constructive negotiations" with the canal's authority over compensation claim. "It is hopeful of a positive resolution to these negotiations in the near future," the UK Club said in a statement. This signals renewed efforts to reach a settlement over the ship crisis amid an ongoing legal dispute and an exchange of In late May, a trial over the Ever Given was adjourned to 20 June to allow for further negotiations on the amount of the compensation claim. The Ismailiya Economic Court postponed the hearing upon requests made by the lawyers representing the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and the ship owner. The lawyers said the postponement is aimed at allowing for an amicable solution to the ship crisis to be reached. The SCA had slashed its compensation claim of $916 million to $550 million to settle the current judicial dispute, with the Ever Given to be allowed to leave if nearly 40 percent of the sum is paid in cash. The ship's insurers say the demanded sum is still too high, previously offering to pay $150 million in compensation for the six-day traffic grounding. The ship ran aground across the Suez Canal on 23 March and was refloated on 29 March by a fleet of Egyptian tugboats and diggers with the assistance of the tide. It has since then been anchored in a lake between two sections of the canal.
