shipping services ltd. type public industry shipping founded 1945 ; 71 years ago 1945 headquarters haifa israel area served worldwide key people rafi danieli ceo aharon fogel chairman services container shipping refrigerated cargo logistics revenue us 3.717 billion 2010 net income us 54 million 2010 parent kenon holdings website official website zim container ship ss kedma zim s first ship in 1947 ss shalom a zim ocean liner in the 1960s zim integrated shipping services ltd. hebrew formerly zim israel navigation company ltd. and zim american israeli shipping inc. is the biggest cargo shipping company in israel and one of the top 20 global carriers . the company s headquarters are in haifa ; it also has a north american headquarters in norfolk virginia . 1 contents 1 history 2 privatization 3 planned stock offering 4 operational statistics 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit zim was founded in 1945 2 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 kedma 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 new ships . the ss bergensfjord renamed jerusalem sailed the israel new york route 3 another ship purchased with reparations money was the ss etzel . 4 the ss dolphin iv acquired in 1956 was renamed ss zion . in 1950s and 1960s zim concentrated 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 . 5 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 . in the 1970s zim expanded into the container shipping business . zim ordered six such ships and gradually made this its main line of business . in 1981 one of the company s ships mezada was lost at sea . despite a lull in maritime shipping at the beginning of the 1980s the company built 15 more ships in germany in the 1990s . at this time the ownership of zim was divided between the israeli government and israel corporation . 6 in august 2014 unloading of the zim piraeus at the port of oakland was delayed after a protest against israel s actions in gaza . longshoremen declined to load the ship out of safety concerns taking no position on the underlying dispute 7 but unloaded the ship after their safety was assured . 8 in 2010 another demonstration was conducted against a zim vessel in response to the israeli attack on the mavi marmara gaza freedom flotilla . after the 2014 oakland demonstration there were protests at the port of la 9 10 11 12 and at tacoma washington 13 which failed to stop the unloading of cargo from zim ships . a second demonstration in oakland in september 2014 resulted in a zim ship not being unloaded and heading to los angeles instead . longshoremen not participating in the protest refused to unload the ship after being physically threatened and their vehicles blocked when they tried to report for work . 14 protesters claimed success in compelling zim shipping to take oakland and l.a. off its schedule an action the oakland port contends will cost jobs for dockworkers . 15 in mid to late 2015 plans to revive a initial public offering were implemented . the listing will likely take place on the new york stock exchange in 2016 . both bank of america merrill lynch and barclays will lead the ipo . 16 privatization edit 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 . 6 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 17 and the state comptroller of israel 18 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 . 19 planned stock offering edit zim barcelona off california 2008 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 . 20 in 2009 zim required a cash injection of 450 million by the ofer family and debt restructuring following the world s container shipping downturn . 21 in 2010 zim regained 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 . 22 in july 2014 by which time the company was almost wholly owned by israel corporation zim was restructured with 68 % of the group s shares owned by its creditors and bondholders and 32 % retained by israel corporation and starting early 2015 by kenon holdings a spin off company of israel corporation . 23 operational statistics edit 24 annual turnover 2014 3.4 billion teu s carried in 2014 2 360 000 million total teu capacity owned and chartered vessels 344 460 teu s containers over 547 000 teus of various types about 80 vessels 13 fully or partly owned ports of call 180 throughout the world with 10 strategically located hubs services over 70 lines and services mostly on a weekly fixed day basis covering all major trade routes with regional connections employees 4200 regional headquarters haifa israel norfolk virginia usa hamburg germany hong kong agents zim has more than 170 offices and representatives in over 100 countries throughout the world see also edit israel corporation zodiac maritime edmond wilhelm brillant top container shipping companies references edit company watch a look at zim shipping . virginia israel advisory board . 13 february 2002 . archived from the original on 7 may 2012 . company overview of zim integrated shipping services ltd . businessweek . retrieved 11 march 2013 . bergensfjord 1 nal 1913 46 . simplon postcards the passenger ship website . archived from the original on 13 november 2013 . retrieved 31 december 2009 . children at heart jerusalem post magazine archived 23 may 2014 at the wayback machine . micke asklander . t s shalom 1964 . fakta om fartyg in swedish . archived from the original on 1 may 2011 . retrieved 16 february 2008 . a b israel corp. to acquire state s zim stake for 115m . globes . 13 january 2004 . volatile atmosphere at gaza demonstration prevents longshoremen from entering port of oakland terminal ilwu coast longshore division news release . retrieved 1 october 2014 . lee henry 21 august 2014 . ship hit by protests unloads leaves oakland . sfgate.com . retrieved 1 october 2014 . israeli ship remains at sea as thousands of protesters gather in oakland . the guardian . 17 august 2014 . retrieved 21 august 2014 . calif. protesters block israel owned ship at port of oakland . washington times . retrieved 21 august 2014 . protesters we prevented zim ship from unloading cargo in la . haaretz . retrieved 26 august 2014 . local groups picket israeli ship at port of long beach . long beach post . retrieved 26 august 2014 . protesters fail to block zim ship in tacoma . the maritime executive . retrieved 26 august 2014 . israeli cargo ship heads for l.a. to unload after oakland protest . reuters . 29 september 2014 . retrieved 1 october 2014 . pro palestinian activists declare victory as zim removes californian ports from schedule . container management . retrieved 12 november 2014 . barclays boa merrill to lead israel s zim ny ipo . reuters . 8 october 2015 . secrets of shakshuka haaretz permanent dead link 55 2004 2003 annual report for 2004 and fiscal year 2003 sale of zim shares held by the state . mevaker.gov.il in hebrew . 2013 . archived from the original on 25 february 2012 . retrieved 19 march 2013 . tal levy 10.07.2006 . zim s newlog unit in merger talks with uti and transclal . haaretz . archived from the original on 22 january 2014 . check date values in date help wright robert 17 june 2008 . israel corp calls off zim shipping flotation . financial times . wright robert 24 november 2011 . zim and misc signal deepening container ship crisis . financial times . rochvarger michael 27 june 2011 . ofers zim navigates around obstacles on way to hong kong stock exchange ipo . haaretz . oakland workers on docks refuse to load shipo from israel . san francisco star . 19 august 2014 . retrieved 19 august 2014 . http www.zim.com aboutus pages factsandfigures.aspx external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title zim integrated shipping services & oldid 739613351 categories container shipping 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