Evergreen: is not responsible for the economic damages caused by the delinquent ship

The Taiwanese operator of the “Evergiven” freighter, which stopped sailing in the Suez Canal for a period of 6 weeks, said last month that it was not responsible for the economic damage caused by the incident.

“Evergreen Marine” also confirmed that it was not responsible for the delay in the transportation of any shipments due to the accident.

Its president, Eric Hsieh, said that the agreements signed with customers do not guarantee the arrival time of shipments, in the first press release after the accident, according to “Bloomberg”.

Dozens of ships used by Evergreen, including Evergreen, were affected by the accident, and 3 ships were diverted to orbit around the Cape of Good Hope, according to Hsieh.

“Our exposure to risk from the Evergiven accident is very low, even if there is damage, it will be covered by insurance,” Hsieh said at a news conference in Taipei on Thursday. But the company is not responsible for delaying the goods.

The statements come amid expectations of legal claims from all parties, as the owners of property aboard the “Evergiven” and other ships can claim compensation for the delay from their insurance companies.

Insurance companies for these assets, in turn, can file lawsuits against Evergiven owners, who will then seek protection from their insurers.

For its part, the Japanese newspaper “Nikkei” quoted the president of the company as saying that “Evergreen” is not responsible for the economic damages resulting from the accident, and blamed the compensation on the Japanese company that owns the ship “Choi Kisen”.

Hsieh said the accident occurred during transportation and during these circumstances the owner of the boat is contractually liable, adding: “Our company is only responsible for the shipment itself, and it is covered by the insurance company.”