One person reportedly died while helping free the Ever Given ship, the Suez Canal Authority says
- The Suez Canal Authority said that one person died during the Ever Given salvage operation in March.
- In a Facebook post, the SCA said that "one death" is among the authority's "most prominent losses."
- The circumstances around the person's reported death are not clear.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) recently revealed that one person reportedly died during the six-day operation that eventually freed the massive Ever Given container ship from a sandbank back in April.
In several statements on the SCA's official Facebook page, posted from May 26 to May 27, canal authorities listed the damages sustained because of the incident.
Among them, it notes "one death, the sinking of one of our rescue boats and 48 ships having to find alternative routes."
Read more: The 4 biggest losers of the Suez Canal fiasco - and 4 surprising winners
In another statement posted on Facebook, the authority states: "The highlighted losses incurred by the S.C authority due to the incident of the grounding crisis of Ever Given that can be seen is the damage to a number of participating marine units and the sinking of one of SCA marine units during the salvage operations, resulting in the death of one of the participants."
It is unclear who died and how exactly this reported death occurred. There is also no record of a tugboat or marine unit sinking during the operation.
Insider has reached out to the SCA for more information but did not hear back in time for publication.
The Japanese-owned Ever Given container ship made headlines in March after it ran aground in the single-lane stretch during a sandstorm, blocking the Suez Canal for six days and significantly disrupting global trade.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which owns the ship, have said the SCA was at fault for Ever Given's grounding because they allowed it to enter the canal amid poor weather conditions.
The accusation comes as Egyptian officials have demanded the company pay $600 million compensation for the disruption caused by the blockage. They had initially demanded $916 million.
However, the insurer of the vessel said this amount is still too high.
The massive container ship is currently still impounded in the Great Bitter Lake, a body of water roughly 30 miles from where it first got stuck.