Egypt will release the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March, after it agreed a compensation deal with the vessel’s owners and insurers. The two sides said the Ever Given would be allowed on Wednesday to leave the Great Bitter Lake, the canal’s midway point, where it has been impounded. The deal’s terms were not revealed, but Egypt had demanded $550m (£397m). The 400m-long (1,312ft) Ever Given became wedged across the canal after running aground amid high winds. It was freed six days later following a salvage operation that involved a flotilla of tug boats and dredging vessels, and during which one person was killed.

Global trade was disrupted as hundreds of ships had to wait to pass through the 193km (120-mile) waterway, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.(BBC)…[+]