CAIRO: The head of the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday said that losses and damages resulting from the grounding of the Ever Given container ship could run to more than $1 billion.
Osama Rabie told media that investigations into the incident, which resulted in the vital trade waterway being blocked to shipping for nearly a week, had begun on Wednesday.
The ship’s black box recorder would reveal details of how the giant vessel – successfully refloated on Monday – ended up jammed sideways across the canal, he added.
Authorities said the backlog of hundreds of ships was clearing smoothly and that the Ever Given was currently undergoing checks while moored away from the main Suez navigation channel.
Rabie pointed out that the Ever Given would be allowed to continue its voyage when compensation had been agreed, but he warned that the vessel would be held if a settlement could not be reached. “The ship carries goods worth $3.5 billion. There was cooperation from the company that owns the ship during the crisis,” he said.
He noted that the probe into the international shipping crisis was being conducted by a team that included marine, legal, loss assessment, and engineering experts while predicting that Egyptian compensation claims could be in excess of $1 billion.
The blockage held up billions of dollars in global trade each day the canal was closed. On Monday, 1,134 ships passed through the Suez and another 81 on Tuesday, with the largest container vessels given priority passage.
According to Rabie, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had directed that incentives be granted in the form of a 5 percent to 15 percent reduction for ships affected by the incident.
“President El-Sisi spoke to me every day to follow up the latest developments in the grounded ship issue. At dawn on Monday, the president announced the movement of the ship,” he added.
The 800 workers involved in the tricky operation to refloat the Ever Given are to receive bonuses and El-Sisi also pledged to organize a celebration ceremony for them.
Global credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar said that total losses covered by insurance would not be overly excessive due to the relatively short period the ship was stuck in the canal, adding that most insurance contracts set a maximum amount of coverage.
Egypt’s claims bill for Ever Given ship’s Suez blockage may hit $1bn: Canal authorities
https://arab.news/cab68
Egypt’s claims bill for Ever Given ship’s Suez blockage may hit $1bn: Canal authorities
Syria believed to make no purchase in 100,000 T wheat tender, traders say
Shipment was sought within 45 days from the contract award
HAMBURG: A Syrian state grains agency is believed to have made no purchase in an international tender seeking 100,000 metric tons of milling wheat which closed in April, European traders said on Thursday.
Traders said Syria could issue a new purchase tender soon.
Shipment was sought within 45 days from the contract award.
Syria had bought about 100,000 tons of wheat in its previous tender reported on March 25, which was believed to be the first large purchase tender since the change of power in Syria late last year.
But the donation by Iraq of 220,000 tons of wheat to Syria was expected to be used for Syria’s immediate import requirements, traders said.
Chinese embassy in Sudan urges citizens to evacuate amid security concerns
- The embassy warned of dwindling supplies of water, electricity and fuel
BEIJING: The Chinese embassy in Sudan on Thursday issued a statement urging Chinese citizens in the country to evacuate as soon as possible, citing deteriorating security situation and rising security risks.
The embassy warned of dwindling supplies of water, electricity and fuel, and advised citizens to evacuate via ships to Saudi Arabia or available international flights, or to travel by land to Egypt.
Drone strikes spark civilian exodus from army-controlled Sudan aid hub
- Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been regarded as a safe haven, hosting United Nations offices and hundreds of thousands of displaced people
- RSF drone strikes on Port Sudan this week hit key facilities including the country’s last functioning international airport
PORT SUDAN: Paramilitary drones struck army-held areas of eastern and southern Sudan for a fifth straight day Thursday, army sources said, prompting an exodus of civilians from Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government.
Attacks targeted the country’s main naval base outside Port Sudan, as well as fuel depots in the southern city of Kosti, two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The militia launched another drone attack on the Flamingo Naval Base north of Port Sudan,” one source told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the regular army since April 2023.
Explosions were heard across the city, an AFP correspondent reported.
Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been regarded as a safe haven, hosting United Nations offices and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, until drone strikes blamed on the RSF began on Sunday.
The port city is the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, and UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the attacks “threaten to increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations in the country,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Nearly 1,100 kilometers (some 680 miles) to the southwest, in the army-controlled city of Kosti in White Nile state, RSF drones struck fuel depots, setting off massive fires, a military source said.
“The militia targeted the fuel depots that supply the state with three drones, causing fires to break out,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
More than two years of war have killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million, according to UN figures.
RSF drone strikes on Port Sudan this week hit key facilities including the country’s last functioning international airport, its largest working fuel depot and the city’s main power station.
An army source said air defenses had shot down 15 drones over the city overnight.
At Port Sudan’s bustling main bus station, civilians were scrambling to leave.
“You can’t get a ticket without booking over a day in advance now, all the buses are booked,” said bus company employee Mahmoud Hussein.
Among those fleeing was Haidar Ibrahim, preparing to travel south with his family.
“The smoke is everywhere and my wife suffers from asthma,” he told AFP. “We have no choice but to leave.”
Many of those who had sought refuge in Port Sudan have been displaced multiple times before, fleeing each time the front line closed in.
Transport costs have nearly doubled as a result of fuel shortages triggered by the attacks.
“Now, we have to buy fuel on the black market,” said tuk-tuk driver Abdel-Meguid Babiker.
On Wednesday evening, drones were also seen over the army-held eastern city of Kassala and northern city of Merowe, prompting anti-aircraft fire.
Eight-country east African bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), called the attacks on civilian infrastructure in Port Sudan “unacceptable” and demanded an “immediate end.”
“Any assault on this critical hub further compounds human suffering and impedes the delivery of urgently needed assistance,” IGAD executive secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said in a statement.
The RSF has not commented on the drone strikes, which have hit targets hundreds of kilometers away from their closest known positions on the outskirts of greater Khartoum.
The paramilitaries have ramped up their drone campaign since losing control of nearly all of greater Khartoum to the army in March.
On Tuesday, the army-backed government severed ties with the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of supplying the RSF with advanced weapons systems.
The UAE denied the allegation, adding that the internationally recognized administration “does not represent the legitimate government of Sudan.”
The paramilitaries and their allies have moved to establish a rival administration in areas under their control.
Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organizations.
The war has effectively split the country in two, with the army holding the north, east and center, and the RSF in control of most of Darfur and parts of the south.
Lebanon reports one dead in strikes that Israeli says targeted Hezbollah
- The health ministry said the strikes killed one person and wounded eight others
- The Israeli military said it struck “a terrorist infrastructure site” used by Hezbollah “to manage its fire and defense array“
BEIRUT: Lebanon said heavy Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Thursday killed one person as the Israeli army said it struck Hezbollah “infrastructure,” the latest raids despite a fragile ceasefire.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes on its neighbor despite the November truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group including two months of full-blown war.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “Israeli warplanes carried out a wide-scale aerial aggression on the Nabatiyeh region, launching a series of heavy raids in two waves” targeting hills and valleys in the area, located around 12 kilometers (seven miles) from the border.
The health ministry said the strikes killed one person and wounded eight others, adding that the toll was provisional.
The Israeli military said it struck “a terrorist infrastructure site” used by Hezbollah “to manage its fire and defense array.”
It said it struck Hezbollah operatives, “weapons, and tunnel shafts,” adding that “this infrastructure is part of a significant underground project that... has been rendered inoperable” by Israeli military raids.
It called the site and activities there “a blatant violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon.”
The NNA said “huge explosions... echoed in most areas of Nabatiyeh and the south,” causing “terror and panic” among residents, who rushed to pick up their children from school, as ambulances headed to the targeted areas.
An AFP photographer saw smoke rising from hills in the region.
“We heard a loud strike, about 10 consecutive blows,” said Jamal Sabbagh, a 29-year-old doctor who was giving schoolchildren health checks near the city of Nabatiyeh.
“Some of the children were scared and there was panic, the teachers were also frightened,” he told AFP.
The raids come a day after an Israeli strike killed a commander from Palestinian militant group Hamas in the southern city of Sidon.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel was to pull all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic.”
The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as the Israeli army has withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.
President Joseph Aoun said late last month that the Lebanese army is now deployed in more than 85 percent of the south and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was “Israel’s occupation of five border positions.”
Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.
Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanon, was heavily weakened in its latest war with Israel.
Lebanese authorities have vowed to implement a state monopoly on bearing arms, though Aoun has said disarming Hezbollah is a “delicate” matter that requires dialogue.
The November truce was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and United Nations peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.
Israel closes 6 UN schools for Palestinians in east Jerusalem
- 550 pupils aged six to 15 were present when the closure was enforced
JERUSALEM: Israel permanently closed six UN schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.
Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days, which ended on Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate.
The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.
UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.
The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.
In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.
