An Egyptian court has upheld the move of Egyptian authorities to impound the massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March pending the resolution of a US$916 million financial dispute.

The court ruled that Ever Given — reportedly carrying more than US$3.5 billion worth of cargo — will continue to be held in the waterway, rejecting an appeal by its Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, against its detention.

The court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, which had approved the detention of the 20,000 TEU-class container ship following the submission of a report by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), upheld that decision on Tuesday, rejecting an appeal made late last month and effectively halting billions of dollars in maritime commerce.

The Panama-flagged Ever Given, was deployed on the China-Rotterdam route when it ran aground and became lodged sideways across the waterway on March 23 temporarily halting navigation through the canal for six days. It was eventually freed on March 29 after days of a rescue operation.

The Japanese owner of Ever Given filed an appeal on April 22 to overturn the decision on the impoundment.

The SCA earlier said the containership would not be allowed to leave the country until a compensation amount is settled. They are seeking US$ 916 million in compensation claims from the shipowners to cover losses during Ever Given’s grounding in the Suez Canal.

Reports said this "includes a US$ 300 million claim for salvage bonus and a US$ 300 million claim for loss of reputation and so on."

Negotiations to settle the compensation claim which the UK Club — the protection and indemnity insurer for Ever Given — earlier described as an "extraordinarily large claim" were still ongoing last week.

UK Club noted that the shipowners were "reviewing their options" in light of the decision, and had until May 20 to appeal.

SCA: We are keen to make negotiations successful

Meanwhile, the SCA said in a statement that the authority is keen to make the ongoing negotiations a success with the Japanese owners of Ever Given.

"Osama Rabie has confirmed the authority's keenness to make the ongoing negations a success with the owning company of the Panamanian-flagged container ship EVER GIVEN, as well as the insurance company, and showing all the possible means of cooperation to reach compromise solutions convenient for all parties," the SCA said.

"[We're] hoping that the latest negotiations may result in a near agreement in the light of the great facilities that the Authority has provided in acknowledgment of the extended relations with the ship-owning company, and an understanding of the surrounding circumstances in the light of the economic consequences of the novel Coronavirus on the maritime industry," it added.

The SCA went on to say that the authority is "being flexible to all the special requirements" of the negotiations while adhering to what the international norms stipulate in such cases.

"His excellency asserted that it is no truth in the allegations of detaining the ship crew, pointing to that the SCA does not mind the departure or recrew operations provided the presence of the sufficient number of sailors to secure the vessel and in the light of the presence of the ship captain as he stands as the juridical guardian of the ship and the cargo aboard," it added.

The SCA also noted that it has "responded to all the requests" made by the ship-owning company, including permitting two crew members to leave the ship and return to their homeland for urgent personal circumstances.

The blockage of one of the world's busiest waterways impacted around 422 ships, according to the SCA earlier, as authorities imposed a temporary suspension of navigation through the Suez Canal last March 25.

This forced some ships to take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope, adding to the time and cost of using the route at Africa's southern tip.

The shutdown earlier raised concerns of supply shortages and rising costs for consumers, adding strain on the shipping industry, already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.