Ever Given, which ran aground in the Suez Canal on 23 March, completed 40-day maintenance and repair in Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry on 13 November.
The 20,388TEU ship returned to serve the Asia-Europe route. Qingdao Beihai was chosen by Japanese tonnage provider Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which owns the ship, as the yard is along the Yangtze River Delta and would facilitate Ever Given’s return to service, with Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan ports in the vicinity. The ship is expected to arrive in Ningbo-Zhoushan today, having loaded cargoes in Qingdao and Shanghai days ago.
Ever Given arrived at Qingdao Beihai on 4 October, with most of the damage concentrated on its bow. Initially, the repairs were estimated to take 20 days, but the process took longer than expected. Shoei Kisen Kaisha had requested that Qingdao Beihai overhaul and upgrade the hull of Ever Given, besides repairing the damaged bow.
After the 23 March incident, Ever Given was stuck in the Suez Canal for six days before salvors refloated the vessel. Consequently, around 450 ships that were behind the stricken vessel were unable to transit the canal, causing one of the worst bottlenecks in shipping history.
The ordeal surrounding Ever Given continued after it was refloated, as the Suez Canal Authority detained the ship, loaded with 18,300 containers, following a wrangle with Shoei Kisen Kaisha over compensation for damages.
On 7 July, Ever Given was freed after Shoei Kisen Kaisha signed a confidential compensation agreement with the Suez Canal Authority, and the ship resumed its long overdue voyage to Rotterdam and other northern European ports. However, on the advice of its classification society, American Bureau of Shipping, Ever Given sailed at a slower speed. On 20 August, Ever Given transited Suez Canal again, en route to China, where the aforementioned repairs were arranged.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
