Satellite images show the Ever Given in limbo the day before Egypt impounded it, demanding up to $900 million in compensation

Satellite images show the Ever Given in limbo the day before Egypt impounded it, demanding up to $900 million in compensation

Newly-released satellite images show the Ever Given in the Suez Canal's Great Bitter Lake, where it is being held while a legal battle rages.

Egyptian authorities impounded the vessel Tuesday while it pursues a case against its owner “” the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.

They are reported to be seeking $900 in compensation for the chaos caused in the six days the vessel was blocking the way, costing the canal operators a vast amount on lost transit fees.

Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), told state-run television: "The vessel is now officially impounded. They do not want to pay anything," The Guardian reported. 

The Ever Given was moved to the canal's large artificial lake on March 29, having spent the previous six days blocking the crucial maritime thoroughfare. It took the massive efforts of dredgers, excavators, tugboats and winches to shift the vast container ship from where it had been lodged since March 23. 

Rabie said that its investigation into who was at fault for the grounding will be concluded Thursday, the Guardian reported. He denied any culpability on the SCA's part, and said that "of course" the ship's owner was at fault, the paper reported. 

The ship's technical