Egypt has signed a preliminary agreement with the owners of the Ever Given ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March, to pay $540m in compensation, Al Arabiya reported citing anonymous sources. According to the agreement, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will not file a complaint regarding the issue, and that the SCA will provide its services normally to the owner company's vessels that will cross the international corridor in the future. The sources indicated that the compensation will be paid jointly by the ship's owners, insurance companies, and the UK P&I Club. In addition, the SCA will receive a new tugboat for free as part of the agreement. The London-based law firm Stann Marine Ltd, which represents the ship's owners and insurers, announced, "After long discussions with the negotiating committee in the SCA, a preliminary agreement was reached between the two parties." The firm did not disclose any financial details. The ship had blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week, hampering navigation through the vital corridor for global trade. The SCA initially demanded compensation in excess of $900m. In return, the Japanese company, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which owns Ever Given, and the ship's insurance companies offered $150m. The ship was chartered by the Taiwanese company Evergreen, and ran aground when sailing from China to Rotterdam.
