Suez Canal Authority leaves to intend that at the moment of the incident the Ever Given navigated to a advanced speed to that allowed



In attended that the judges Egyptians resume the cause under investigation next the 20 june, they continue the skirmishes between the parts involved in the incident of the Ever Given, the portacontainer that in the end of March the naval traffic in the water way has run aground in the Suez Canal blocking Egyptian for six days. Friday UK P&I Club, the mutualistic association that the cover offers to the Ever Given protection & indemnity, that is covers the risks deriving from the exercise of navigation and from the commercial employment of the portacontenitori, it had manifested worry because in the days precedence Suez Canal Authority (SCA) had debited the guilt of the incident to the command of the ship, that is to the commander and the officials of the Ever Given(on 31 May 2021).

The British mutualistic Club had replied emphasizing that to this accusation they do not see the hour to answer in the within of the judicial procedures Egyptians is the owners of the Ever Given, that is the company Japanese owner of a shipping company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, than their insurers P&I and hull and machinery (the cover of the risks of the hull and of the car of the ship it is offered by the Japanese Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.). More entering in the merit of querelle, UK P&I Club it had specified that, relatively to the incident, "in first request it is essential to clarify that, if the commander is ultimately in charge of the ship, carried out navigation journeying in the channel inside a convoy is steered by the pilots of Suez Canal and by the services of management of the naval traffic of the SCA. Such government - he had specified the Club - includes the speed of transit and the availability of assistance tugs".

UK P&I Club had concluded own retort clarifying that, however, "the owners of the Ever Given and their insurers P&I and hull and machinery recognize absolutely that the SCA has right to a compensation for its legitimate demands deriving from this incident". Admission of responsibility that is appreciated by the Authority of the Suez Canal. From part its, saturday the SCA has restated "own will to carry the negotiation successfully acting according to the principle of the good faith and - it has specified the authority Egyptian referring in this case not already to the society owner of the ship when to the society owner of a shipping company that work the portacontainer, that is the taiwanese Evergreen Marine Corporation - taking into consideration the wide ties and relationships with the shipowner as one of the main customers of the SCA, without to prejudice the rights of the SCA and guaranteeing the attainment of a fair solution that compensations the losses endured during the crisis".

Saying this, Suez Canal Authority has restated also that "the "Navigation Book of Rules" of the SCA is the legal reference that establishes the rights and the duties of the SCA in confront of its customers". Specifying that this document, that "contains the norms of navigation in the channel let alone the articles that specify the various ones you obligate and requisitioned of transit of the ships in the channel for that regards the marine services, logistic and of rescue", the SCA has remembered that, in particular, "article 58 of the Navigation Book of Rules, relative to the allocation of the escort tugs, previews that the SCA checks two tugs of escort to the container vessels of advanced capacity pairs or to 170 thousand tons" (the Ever Given has a gross capacity almost 200 thousand tons). Suez Canal Authority has emphasized that this article "is applied by the SCA assigning two tugs of escort to the ship Panamanian clapper flag Ever Given".

The authority Egyptian has remembered moreover that article 54 of the same document "establishes the speed allowed with the ships in the water way that varied from 14 to 16 kilometers per hour according to the type of ship in transit. Based on how much over - it has evidenced the SCA - during the transit in the channel the ships they must adhere to the speed indicated based on the Navigation Book of Rules and the overcoming of these speeds is of exclusive responsibility of the commander of the ship". Precisazione that leaves to intend that at the moment of the incident the Ever Given, than based on the Navigation Book of Rules could journey to a speed of 16 km/ora, navigated in the channel to a advanced speed.

Therefore, if in recent days the SCA had evidenced that, pilots of the authority Egyptian on board of the ship or less, the responsibility of navigation in the channel fell back last on the commander of the Ever Given, now rimarca that, since the portacontenitori navigated to a advanced speed to that allowed, to greater reason the responsibility would be from attributing totally to the command of the ship. To this point it comes to wonder if also the other ships that took part of the convoy of directed naval unit in the Mediterranean that included the Ever Given, that it was incolonnata in fifth position, was proceeding to a advanced speed to that they allowed.

For how much the conduction of the convoy closely is not irreggimentata, the formation of the assemblies of the ships waiting for to journey in the channel is established by the commanders of the ports of Port Saïd and Port Tewfik, respective for the convoys directed towards south and those directing to north, while the type of convoys is decided by the center of management of the naval traffic of Ismaïlia on the base of the type of ships waiting for to cross the channel.

The Navigation Book of Rules per kilometer establishes that the first ship of the convoy of units directed to north, assembly of which took part the Ever Given at the moment of the incident, regulates own speed so that to meet to Ballah, 54,77, the last ship of the convoy of units directed towards south (to the first ship of the convoy directed to south comes instead tax of regulating the speed so that to meet the last ship of the convoy directed to north near the station of Kabret, per kilometer 120,80). In the middle of management of Ismaïlia the task is up also to define the transit time of the convoy, necessary assessment also because to the ships that anticipate a smaller speed of the others that they constitute the convoy is applied an increase of the transit rights. Moreover to the officials of Suez Canal Authority the task is up to estimate the modalities with which the ships of the convoy they can journey in the channel, enclosed the decision if they can navigate in the water way without the assistance of tugs.

Given the variety of the tasks that fall back on the attache's of the Authority of the Suez Canal, included the assessment of the transit time of the ships in the water way, the reference of the authority Egyptian to the speed of the Ever Given does not seem to be one of the best arguments useful to confirm own theses.