ISMAILIA, Egypt—Egyptian authorities announced the release Wednesday of a hulking shipping vessel that had blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week earlier this year. The Ever Given left the canal’s Great Bitter Lake, where it had been held for over three months amid a financial dispute. The development came after its Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., reached a settlement with canal authorities over a compensation amount following weeks of negotiations and a court standoff. The settlement deal was signed in a ceremony Wednesday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, after which the vessel was seen sailing to the Mediterranean Sea. An Associated Press video journalist on board a tugboat saw the vessel moving northward to the Mediterranean as officials representing the Suez Canal the vessel’s owner and insurers penned the deal in Ismailia. “A deal that achieved justice and prioritized both parties’ interests has been reached,” Lt. …