The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has hinted that it is preparing a $1bn claim for financial losses, damage and costs related to the grounding of the Evergreen Marine-operated Ever Given in the waterway.

SCA chairman and managing director Osama Rabie told local media that the amount of damages and losses, including dredging costs, is being calculated.

“Estimates, God willing, will reach a billion dollars and a little bit more,” he said, according to a Reuters account of a report on Egyptian television broadcaster Sada Elbalad.