Reinsurers are set to foot most of the bill for the grounding of the ship that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal last month, with payouts expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars according to reporting by Reuters.

The Ever Given ran aground on 23 March, blocking a major through-route for international supply chains. It took specialist teams until 29 March to free the vessel, by which time an estimated 400 other ships had their journeys significantly disrupted by the blockage.

Alan Mackinnon, chief claims officer with UK P&I Club, the Ever Given’s P&I insurer, told Reuters that it expected a claim against the ship’s owner from the canal authorities for possible damage to the canal and for loss of revenues, as well as separate claims for compensation from some of the owners of the delayed ships.

Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie said last month that losses and damages from the Ever Given blockage could reach around US$1bn, but that the actual amount would be calculated after investigations into the incident have been completed. The UK P&I Club will cover the first US$10m of P&I losses.

Lloyd’s of London said last week that the incident would likely result in a “large loss” for the commercial insurance and reinsurance market of at least US$100m.

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