Ever Given owners reach Egypt mobilisation agreement - The owners of the Ever Given, the ship that blocked the Suez Canal for a week, have reached an agreement with Egypt to release it after 71 days immobilized.

The owners of the Ever Given, the container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal for 6 days last March and caused an international crisis by blocking one of the most important trade routes in the world, have reached an agreement with the Egyptian authorities who manage the canal for the release of the ship, as announced on Wednesday the insurance company of the ship.

Efforts to liberate the ship continued in March for 6 days. During this time, the immense size of the ship forced excavators, tugs and specialized dredgers to participate in the unblocking work. Finally, the high tide helped to straighten out a ship that for almost a week offered an engineering spectacle to media around the world while keeping many of the world's most important companies on their toes, both for better and for worse.

Ever Given owners reach Egypt mobilisation agreement

But the history of the Ever Given did not end, far from it, with the end of the immense jam it caused in the canal. The truth is that the ship has never been able to leave the Suez Canal. First, he was held for inspections to explain the problem. On 13 April, Egypt finally seized the ship demanding compensation.

The ship has been held in the Great Bitter Lake, a large body of water that faces the canal. There, with much of his crew still on board, he had to wait for months while the parties negotiated.

Ever Given owners reach Egypt mobilisation agreement

The ship's insurer, the UK Club, has issued a statement on Wednesday stating that the ship's owners, the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, and the authorities governing the Suez Canal were working "to finalize an agreement" leading to the release of the ship.

Ever Given owners reach Egypt mobilisation agreement: Egypt's claims for compensation began with almost $ 1 billion (more than 800 million euros), but these claims have been reduced as the talks progressed. In all this time, the insurance company UK Club has been skeptical about how far Egypt could stretch the rope in its claims, an opinion reflected by some experts in the insurance sector, as Lloyd's List recently reported.

Thus, the UK Club continued to oppose Egypt's claims even when they lowered it to 600 million dollars (just over 500 million euros). More recently, Egypt fell to $ 550 million (460 million euros) on the condition that $ 200 million (167 million euros) be paid in advance, according to the Egyptian newspaper Ahram Online. The conditions under which this principle of agreement is being agreed have not yet been made public. The Suez Canal Authority has not yet answered questions about it.

Ever Given owners reach Egypt mobilisation agreement

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Spain is the country in Europe that puts more barriers to competition favoring its predominant electricity

In mid-February 2021, the European Commission published the report Barriers in European retail energy markets. That is to say, obstacles that are put to the competition and that, therefore, serve to protect the electricity companies. Of the 45 barriers analysed, 25 were identified in Spain.

Spain is the country in Europe that puts more barriers to competition in the energy market, ahead of France and Bulgaria, both with 24. Among the surrounding countries, Italy applies 20 of these obstacles, Germany 19 and Portugal 14.

The 5 main barriers in the electricity sector identified by the study are: the advantage of vertically integrated market players, low customer awareness or interest, uncertainty about the regulatory future or digitalization, uncertainty about the current regulatory environment or its development and the strategic behavior of traditional operators or other market players.

Of the obstacles mentioned above, the first one stands out, which indicates the advantage of vertically integrated groups, that is to say, the predominant electricity groups, which, as pointed out by Cotitoria, in Spain would be Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy and EDP. Among the top 3, according to the same publication, they account for 90% of the energy business.

In this item, which, in a way, indicates the protection that is given to the main electricity companies, Spain ranks fourth, behind Cyprus, Croatia and Poland. Well below are the geographically nearby territories. And, in the last positions, that is, as the countries that least protect their electricity, are Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the case of the gas market, Spain does not come out well, since it is the 5th country that gives more support to its vertical groups. Ahead are Slovenia, Poland, Croatia and Bulgaria.

In addition to the general report, the European Commission produced 28 specific studies analysing the situation in each country. In Spain, some aspects stand out such as the main electricity companies “using tactics that are not available to the competition”, for example, in terms of prices, combined billing or access to customers.

But not everything is negative. It is also indicated in the report of the European entity that the Spanish market is among those with a higher number of registered suppliers. They further explain that, as the decentralisation of the energy system continues, “retail markets will play an increasingly important role in ensuring that consumers benefit from low prices, a wide variety of offerings and the latest innovations.