Suez Canal chairman says losses from Ever Given blockage could reach $1 billion

FILE PHOTO: Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, attends a news conference in Ismailia, Egypt March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Hanaa Habib

CAIRO (Reuters) - The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority said on Wednesday, in an interview with Egypt's Sada El-Balad TV, that losses and damages from the Ever Given blockage could reach around $1 billion.

"The amount of damage and losses, and how much the dredgers consumed, will be calculated. Estimates, God willing, will reach a billion dollars and a little bit more, this is the country's right," the chairman, Osama Rabie, said.

(Reporting by Omar Fahmy; Editing by Leslie Adler; Writing by Nayera Abdallah)