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© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Egypt seeks settlement out of court with Japanese company for Suez Canal blockage
By SAMY MAGDY ISMAILIA, Egypt©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Antiquesaving
So let me get this straight!
But he is demanding the Japanese company pay even though no cause has been determined.
I guess they want the money before the Japanese company request ban independent inquiry and the 2 Egyptian canal pilots who were responsible for piloting the ship through the canal are possibly found responsible, in which case it would be the Egypt that is responsible.
Antiquesaving
Incorrect. When you rent a defect-free car and it is involved in an accident, it is the driver that is responsible.
In this case the pilots were Egyptian canal authority pilots, the ships going through the canal must pay the authority to supply these pilots.
So if the ship had no mechanical issues then the responsibility is that of poor piloting and that would be on the Egyptian pilots shoulders and the canal authority's responsibility.
Asiaman7
Exactly. That is the point that is being made. The question is rhetorical.
Actually, the master/captain of the vessel always has responsibility for the vessel, even during navigation by pilots. However, the master/captain of this vessel was provided by Evergreen, not Shoei.
Asiaman7
Shoei Kisen’s ship Ever Given was chartered to Evergreen Marine Corporation, a Taiwanese shipping company that named and operated the vessel.
When you rent a defect-free car from a rental car agency, is the agency responsible when you crash that car?
GW
Clearly we will need more info on what (supposedly) happened & go from there as far as culpability is concerned
Antiquesaving
See the last several articles on this subject.
It gets really messy. Owners of the actual ship are Japanese, the managing company is German, the operating company is Taiwanese, the crew are all Indian.
The pilots at the time of the accident were Egyptian.
But which of these is perceived to have the deeper pockets and more likely to pay than fight?
So they go after the Japanese ship owner, not the operator or management companies.
kurisupisu
The Japanese owners can always counter sue the offending parties but it is the lawyers that win in the end.
Chibakun
I think they're just trying it on and probably the Japanese will pay up. No way would Americans pay if it there ship.
Desert Tortoise
Curious where you read that? I have been following the incident in a couple of maritime blogs and there has been no mention of an engineering casualty preceding the grounding.
Interesting aside, in the past week or two there have been two big box ships lose power crossing the Pacific from Asia due to contaminated fuel.
NCIS Reruns
I'm thinking there ought to be some sort of insurance angle involved. Or, does insurance only cover sinking or damage to the ship, but not cases where the ship causes damage?
wanderlust
The Egyptian pilots are 100% responsible for the navigation and are paid to do it. Nice little earner.
Under Maritime Law, the Master of the Ship is ultimately responsible for the safety and navigation of the ship, even if given potentially bad advice from pilots. It's also Suez Canal Authority Rules. They have to work as a team.
Desert Tortoise
No. That would be true of the Panama Canal but not the Suez. Transiting the Suez, the pilot(s) assist the ship's captain but the captain remains responsible for the safe navigation of the ship through the canal. The same is true wrt the harbor pilots that assist captains entering most ports around the world.
Desert Tortoise
Evergreen of Taiwan chartered the ship but does not own or operate it. The owner is a Japanese firm and the operator, who is hired by the owner to operate their ship, is owned by a Singapore based company. Evergreen is not involved in those decisions.
Desert Tortoise
Maritime law is different. Yes the ship and its cargo are insured to a degree. The owner of the ship has declared what is called "General Average". What that means is the owners of the freight the ship was carrying and the owner of the ship must each pay a proportion of the costs of the mishap "pro-rata", meaning based on their exposure. In other words all of the merchants who's freight was landed safely after a mishap are required to pay a portion of the costs of the mishap based on how much of the total freight on the ship was theirs. This practice is an ancient law of the sea that remains on the books of most maritime nations.
Desert Tortoise
After General Average is declared the owners of the freight who are required to pay their share of the cost of the mishap would file claims with their insurance company to cover their loss.
Desert Tortoise
One last comment. If the SCA and the ship owner are not able to come to agreement out of court, the ship and at least some of the crew will be held in Egypt until the case is settled. That could be years. There are a couple of ships anchored in Great Bitter Lake right now that have been there over a year as disputes are litigated.
Samit Basu
@Euro Dude
The ship was grounded after it lost power and was unable to steer during crosswind according to the testimony of Egyptian pilot.
Hence the shipowner's fault.
HimariYamada
"Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie told The Associated Press he hoped talks with Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the Japanese owner of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given, will conclude without a lawsuit."
No where in the article does it mention the fact that the ship was operated by a Taiwanese company at the time of the accident. Typical.
Septim Dynasty
First, it was Mauritius. Now, it is Egypt.
Japan does not seem to run out streams of bad luck since the 1990s.