Suez Canal chief: A vessel has been impounded due to a financial issue

RecentlyHeard ^ | 12/5/2021 | Rajesh

[rajesh0540]

The canal director and a judicial official said Tuesday that Egyptian authorities had impounded a giant container ship that had blocked the Suez Canal last month due to a financial dispute with its owner.

According to Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, the hulking Ever Given would not be able to leave the country until a settlement is reached with the vessel's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.

“The vessel has now been legally impounded,” he said late Monday on Egypt's state-run television. “They refuse to pay anything.”

The vessel's owner made no immediate comment.

[Gene Eric]

The mystery continues

[Vigilanteman]

The Japanese, of all people, ought to know better. If someone suicides there by jumping in front of a train, the railway company goes after the estate for the cost of the delays and cleanup.

That's one reason such suicides are rare whilst hanging and poisoning are more common.

[DUMBGRUNT]

MY eBay order!!!

[PGR88]

“The vessel has now been legally impounded,” he said late Monday on Egypt's state-run television. “They refuse to pay anything.”

[Alas Babylon!]

I’d hate to be a crewman or officer on that ship.

Because you are now stuck on it, possibly for years.

Meanwhile you do not get paid, can’t buy food or fuel (to run the A/C, for example), and the Egyptians won’t let you simply leave, as you and your job (and any possible role you had in the accident in the first place) are part of the legal dispute.

[Celtic Conservative]

Perhaps they can start a GoFundMe campaign.

CC

[Arlis]

Interesting. Pilots of the ships while in the canal are canal employees.

Was not the ship’s pilot’s fault, nor the owners’ Was the canal’s responsibility while in the canal.

If I am incorrect, I welcome an expert to explain in more detail.

[Alberta's Child]

Maritime law has some bizarre provisions that govern a dispute like this.

For one thing, I'm pretty sure a ship that is at the heart of a financial dispute like this isn't "impounded" the way a car would be towed by the police for being illegally parked, or repossessed by a bank over delinquent payments. Instead, the ship is treated like a person and is "taken into custody" as a person of interest in an investigative matter.

[Alberta's Child]

"The vessel has now been legally impounded," he said late Monday on Egypt's state-run television. "They refuse to pay anything."

I think what happens here is that the ship and the cargo are salvaged and sold off to pay whatever penalties and fines have been incurred.

[Ikeon]

Yep, you wanna dance? Ya gotta pay the band..egypt had to save that ship.. its now a salvaged ship. Either the owners pay the band or the band keeps the whole bar as payment!!

[Charles Martel]

Was not the ship’s pilot’s fault, nor the owners’ Was the canal’s responsibility while in the canal.

I'm not certain of the details, but I've heard that vessels transiting the Suez Canal are subject to a host of regulations imposed by the Suez Canal Authority, which you can bet operates to put most of the liability on the vessel, not the Canal or its operators.

[ready2brd]

No, even selling the ship off would take years of court proceedings under international law. The cargo is not owned by the carrier, and would involve hundreds of separate lawsuits against companies in dozens of countries to litigate. They will hold it hostage till those companies put enough pressure on the carrier to pay up.