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ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

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צים שירותי ספנות משולבים בע"מ

Head office: 9 Andrei Sakharov St. (Matam Center) P.O. Box 15067, Haifa 3190500, Israel.Tel.: +972-4-8652111   

www.zim.com

Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., commonly known as ZIM, is a publicly traded Israeli international cargo shipping company. The company is one of the top 10 shipping companies in the world, operating in more than 100 countries in over 330 ports worldwide, offering dry cargo, refrigerated cargo, special cargo, dangerous cargo and inland transportation services. The company was previously Israeli state-owned and was privatized at the end of 2003. 

Weapon Shipments for the Israeli Ministry of Defense 

The company is one of the main shippers of weapons and military equipment to Israel. 

“Israel Carrier Association” restrictive arrangement

ZIM provides the Israeli Ministry of Defense with maritime transport of weapons and security cargo purchased with U.S aid funds from the United States. 

Under the Israel Carrier Association Federal Maritime Commission Agreement from 1991, ZIM is one of three companies facilitating the maritime transportation of Ministry of Defense cargo, direct or via transshipment, between United States ports and Israel. The agreement allows companies and ZIM, Maersk, and American President Lines, to set rates, terms, charges, conditions and practices for or in connection with the transportation of MOD cargo. The agreement is renewed every year with each of the companies. 

According to the agreement, half of the security cargo from the United States is transported on direct regular transportation lines between the United States and Israel operated by ZIM.

The agreement regulates the operational and commercial cooperation between the shipping companies to provide maritime transportation services of military cargo for the Israeli Ministry of Defense from the US to Israel, in accordance with the Ministry's requirements and in coordination with it. According to the agreement, the IMOD receives preferential transportation conditions, giving preference to cargo in containers over shipments from other customers.

The companies are allowed to make arrangements or agreements among themselves and with other modes of transportation for the movement of intermodal shipments to or from inland points in Israel or in the U.S., including setting inland rates, rules, charges, classifications, practices, liability, bill of lading conditions, per diems, free time and detention on carrier-provided containers, chassis and related equipment, positioning of equipment, interchange with connecting carriers, terminal and shoreside loading operations, receipt, handling, storage, pickup and delivery of cargo, consolidation, container yards, depots and freight stations, and other related matters.  

Between March and September 2024, ZIM shares rose 150% amid the Israeli ongoing military onslaught on Gaza. 

In 2023, the Israeli shipping company ZIM transported hundreds of tons of ammunition via the port of Antwerp, Belgium, to Israel. Between November 2022 and July 2023, ten ZIM vessels carrying ammunition on board have been documented in Antwerp port on their way to Israel. The vessels carried dozens of kilograms of cartridges for weapons, electric detonators, and detonator assemblies. According to NGO Vredesactie, ZIM transferred the ammunition to Israel without applying for the necessary transit permissions in risk of violations of international law. 

Also in 2023, investigations by Peace Action and International Peace Information Service (IPIS) revealed that ZIM transported as much as 246 tons of munitions from Hamburg through the port of Antwerp. 

In May 2024, a coalition of Belgian NGOs filed a criminal complaint against ZIM alleging violations of the Arms Trade Decree due to the transit of weapons to Israel, which poses a risk of use in war crimes in light of the ongoing Israeli military attack against Gaza.