What is the “serious mistake” that Egypt attributes to the captain of the “Ever Given” after analyzing the black box of the ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal

The “never given” entered the Suez Canal “Off-center and at a prohibited speed in narrow sea lanes”, assures Efe the head of the channel, Admiral Osama Rabie, on the eve of the lawsuit for which you are claiming millionaire compensation to the company that owns the boat.

At the headquarters of the Suez Canal Authority in the Egyptian city of Ismailiya, Rabie is sure of his arguments for claiming $ 550 million to the Japanese company Shoei Kisen, owner of the large container ship 400 meters long which blocked the passage between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean for six days at the end of March.

“The ship’s black box indicated a serious fault on the part of the captain because when it entered the canal, it was not centered and it was traveling at a high speed which is not allowed in narrow sea lanes ”, he assures in an interview with Efe.

“He entered at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour”, while the maximum it could reach in the narrow southern section of the canal – which was not enlarged in 2015 – is between eight and nine kilometers, he said.

Therefore, Rabie, who this week offered interviews to the foreign press to defend his position, rejects the arguments of Shoei Kisen’s defense, putting the blame on the seaway management entity.

WEATHER SITUATION

According to Egyptian media, lawyers for the Japanese company ensure that there have been discussions between the control tower and the Authority’s “guides” or pilots who travel on board ships crossing the Channel to find out whether the container ship must fit into the conditions. weather events of that day, with a sandstorm and winds of 40 knots.

The Canal Authority acknowledged the meteorological factor but assures that, although bad weather was first reported as the cause of the incident, in Egypt sandstorms are common and that even in more severe conditions. unfavorable, ships crossed.

“The Suez Canal does not force anyone to enter. The captain knows your boat and your boat conditions and may ask you not to enter due to bad weather conditions. This happens often “, Rabie waved.

In addition, he claims that 12 other ships had passed the “Ever Given” from south to north and 32 others entered the Mediterranean Sea “without problems”.

Rabie refuses to estimate the length of the legal battle, or how much the judicially seized vessel could still be detained in the waters of the canal, where it has been anchored with its crew on board since March 29.

Of course, he categorically denies that the dispute can end in any arbitration or international tribunal: “The accident occurred in Egyptian territory and that is why it belongs to the Egyptian courts”.

The “Ever Given”, with 18,000 containers on board, blocked passage through the canal, through which about 10% of maritime trade passes, including much of the oil exported from the Persian Gulf to Europe, causing unrest on the stairs.

550 MILLION COMPENSATION

At first, Egypt asked the company which has 916 million dollars in compensation, then it went down to 600 million and finally to 550 million, but it assures that the Japanese firm only offered 150 million.

Rabie justifies the amount claimed for the losses suffered during those six days, during which estimates that 422 ships could not cross the canal and ran aground, and in which others have chosen to bypass Africa, apart from the expenses for the rescue of the “Ever Given”.

However, he asserts that the incident had no repercussions on the channel’s activity after it reopened, but on the contrary “it projected a good image of the channel and its administration”.

Egypt has now embarked on a series of sea passage improvements that it hopes to increase capacity and reduce the possibility of a repeat of a similar incident.

In the northern part, the double track baptized “new Suez Canal” will be enlarged in 2015, when major work was carried out in this part of the pass, in addition to “an expansion of 40 meters of the southern section from kilometer 132 to kilometer 162 and the depth of the channel will be increased from 66 feet to 72”, according to Rabie.

“This will improve navigation and paddle control in this part of the channel but it does not eliminate accidents: if a captain enters with the same speed or with the same posture, he can have the same accident,” he concludes.

With information from EFE

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