| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Headquarters | Haifa, Israel |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Rafi Danieli (CEO) Nir Gilad (Chairman) |
| Services | Container shipping, Refrigerated Cargo, Logistics |
| Revenue | US$ 3,717 million (2010) |
| Net income | US$ 54 million (2010) |
| Parent | Israel Corporation |
| Website | www.zim.com |
Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (Hebrew: צים), formerly ZIM Israel Navigation Company Ltd. and Zim American Israeli Shipping Inc., is the biggest cargo shipping company in Israel, and 10th largest in the world. The company's North American headquarters are based in Norfolk, Virginia.[1]
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ZIM was founded in 1945, by the Jewish Agency and the Histadrut (General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel). The first ship was purchased in partnership with Harris and Dixon (based in London) in 1947. This vessel was refurbished, renamed SS Kedmah, and sailed to the future state of Israel in the summer of 1947. During her first years, her main task was transporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the emerging state. Some of the other ships that had been used for clandestine immigration before the establishment of Israel as a state were confiscated by the British mandate authorities and later joined the company's fleet. The company continued to purchase more ships, among them SS Negba, SS Artza and SS Galila.
During the 1948 war, the company was the sole maritime connection with the state of Israel, supplying food, freight and military equipment.
In 1953, some of the money from the reparations agreement between Israel and West Germany was allocated to the purchase of 36 new ships, a massive expansion of ZIM's fleet.
The 1950s and 1960s saw ZIM concentrate on passenger ships, alongside a constant expansion of the cargo shipping business. Passenger liners were a common means of international transport before the emergence of cheap air transport, and pleasure cruises were also popular. ZIM sailed the Mediterranean Sea, as well as having regular routes to the United States. Some of its ships cruised to the Caribbean during the winter. 1964 saw the completion of the ocean liner SS Shalom, which turned out to be a failure, marking the end of the ZIM passenger shipping era.[2]
During the 1960s ZIM started to turn its focus to cargo ships, and obtained several special-purpose vessels, including refrigerated shipping, and oil tankers. ZIM transported crude oil from Iran to Israel, and oil byproducts from Israel to Europe.
The 1970s saw ZIM expanding into the container shipping business. ZIM ordered 6 such ships, and gradually made this its main line of business.
In 1981 one of the company's ships, Mezada, was lost at sea and at the same time, ZIM was suffering, alongside other shipping companies, from the lull in maritime shipping at the beginning of the 1980s, but it recovered, and during the 1990s had 15 more ships built in Germany. At this time, the ownership of ZIM was divided between the Israeli government and Israel Corporation.[3]
In 2004, ZIM the Israel Corporation (which is controlled by the Ofer Brothers Group) purchased 49% of Zim's shares held by the Israeli government, becoming the sole owner of the company.[3] The new official name after privatization became Zim Integrated Shipping Services. The purchase deal for about five hundred million New Israeli Shekels was severely criticized by the press[4] and the State Comptroller of Israel[5] as being undervalued and becoming just another flag of convenience company. In 2007, ZIm Sold its maritime logistics and forwarding services subsidiary NewLog to UTi Worldwide[6].
In 2008, ZIM planned to launch an initial public offering and selling 25% of its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but due to the onset of the global economic crisis it was called off.[7] In 2009, ZIM required a cash injunction of $450 by the Ofer family and debt restructuring following the world's container shipping downturn.[8]
In 2010, ZIM returned to profitability and in early 2011 ZIM renewed its plans for a flotation on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but again had to postpone it due to the economic downturn and the drop in container shipping rates.[9]
ZIM's operational statistics for 2010:[10]