Ship owners to pass on cost of Suez Canal blockage to consumers – Mbia

A Maritime law Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Shipping, Dr Kofi Mbiah has revealed that the knock-on disruption to global shipping as a result of the blockade of the world most used maritime trade route could take weeks or months to unravel.

Speaking to Tv3’s Josephine Antwi-Adjei, Dr. Kofi Mbiah, said while traffic has now resumed in the canal, the repercussions after days of halted movement will continue to be felt.

‘It is good that now the vessel is free, although such accident is not the first time,” he said.

"However, it is the third in history so far, but the attention now would be knock-on effect of congestion at ports and supply chains already reeling from container shortage amidst high freight rates," he added.

He further maintained that the incident had no impact on trade flows from the West Coast of Africa, as Ghana remains vulnerable, owing to some significant trading relations with Europe.

Dr. Kofi Mbiah emphasized that there will be losses, which will be spread over different categories, there will be insurance for ship owners, as salvage operations were done, but at the end of the day, the shipowners will pass on the cost to the final consumer.

On the part of the executive director at the Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa and Senior lecturer of University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), Dr Kamal-Deen Ali said the prolonged delay of the vessel could have raised some security concerns as a number of vessels were still waiting.

The ship, one of the largest in the world, became horizontally wedged in the canal last Tuesday.

Since then crews worked night and day to free the vessel.

The MV Ever Given was dislodged on Monday after more than 10 tugboats arrived on the scene, along with specialized dredging equipment and expert salvage teams all working together to free the 220,000-ton vessel.

According to the Suez Canal Authority, nearly 19,000 ships passed through the Suez Canal during 2020.