The legal fallout from the Ever Given grounding in 2021 continues to spiral with the news that AP Moller-Maersk is seeking compensation for losses.
The Danish shipping giant has launched a claim at a court in Copenhagen against the vessel's owner and operators, according to Maritime Danmark.
The amount is said to be around DKK 300m ($43m), according to ShippingWatch.
The 20,124-teu Ever Given (built 2018) lodged in the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021, with huge knock-on effects for world trade.
Maersk is suing charterer Evergreen, owner Shoei Kisen and technical manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.
“It is correct that Maersk has raised a claim against Evergreen, the ship’s owners and the technical manager at the Maritime and Commercial Court, because Maersk suffered losses in connection with Ever Given’s blocking of the Suez Canal”, a spokesman for the group told Maritime Denmark.
Maersk has not confirmed the amount involved.
At least 400 ships were held up as a result of the grounding.
Estimates of the losses caused globally range from $30bn to $65bn.
Where Maersk leads with legal action, other big players such as CMA CGM and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company may follow.
In September 2022, TradeWinds reported a claim in court papers filed in London that the Ever Given sailed for 18 minutes above the 12-knot speed limit in the Suez Canal before the master lost control and grounded the ship.
Arguments between pilots
A group of cargo owners and their insurers were claiming more than $325,000 in damages and costs from Shoei Kisen for negligence and breach of duty.
The Japanese owner has set up a £84m ($94m) fund through the UK courts designed to limit the payouts.
A court hearing in Egypt in 2021 was told that two pilots from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) on the bridge of the Ever Given argued about the ship’s passage through the canal.
The hearing was to decide damages for the SCA caused by the logjam.
The $1bn dispute was eventually settled via private negotiations between the SCA, Shoei Kisen Kaisha and protection and indemnity clubs.
