Suez Canal Authority to receive tug boat under agreement on Ever Given vessel

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will receive a tug boat with a pulling capacity of about 75 tons as part of a settlement agreed in a compensation dispute, allowing the Ever Given vessel that blocked the canal to sail on July 7, said Osama Rabie, the SCA chairman, Report informs referring to Reuters.

The SCA has held the giant ship and its crew in a lake between two stretches of the waterway since it was dislodged on March 29, amid a dispute over demand for compensation by the SCA.

The Japanese-owned Ever Given had become stuck in high winds and remained wedged across the canal for six days, disrupting global trade.

"We preserved the rights of the authority in full, preserved our relationship with the company and also political relations with Japan," Rabie told a private TV channel on July 4 evening.

The SCA said the settlement contract would be signed on July 7 at a ceremony and that participants would be able to watch the ship leaving.

The canal earned revenue of $3 billion in the first six months of 2021, up 8.8 percent compared with the same period last year, despite the Ever Given accident, Rabie said.