News / Malaysia bans Zim ships from docking at its ports

Photo 263392716 / Anwar Ibrahim © Abdul Razak Abdul Latif | Dreamstime.com

The Gaza conflict’s impact on shipping has well and truly extended beyond the local region after Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (above) today closed the country’s ports to vessels operated by Israeli carrier Zim.

MrAnwar said an approaching Zim vessel, understood by The Loadstar to be the Liberian-flagged 5,936 teu Zim Europe, heading eastward and due to call at Port Klang on 26 December, would be turned away, as would any Israeli-flagged, -owned or -destined ship.

The Zim Europe was initially scheduled to arrive at Port Klang on 5 December, but suffered a 21.5-day delay having travelled round the Cape of Good Hope as it was diverted from its original passage through Suez.

Source: VesselFinder

Zim’s ships have been allowed to dock and unload cargo at Malaysia since 2005. However, today Mr Anwar said: “The Malaysian government… has decided to override the past cabinet’s decision… [and] block and disallow the Israeli-based shipping company Zim from docking at any Malaysian port.”

The move does not represent a significant foreign-policy departure for Malaysia, a 60%-Sunni Muslim country, which advocates a two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict. A champion of the anti-Israel Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, it stands alongside Indonesia, Brunei, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Pakistan in refusing to recognise Israel.

The words “Valid for all countries except Israel” are inscribed on all Malaysian passports.

However, even in this context, prime minister Anwar is understood to be a historically outspoken opponent of Israel.

“The Port Klang Authority has been ordered to assist logistics companies, importers, exporters and ships handling cargo that has been affected,” Malaysia’s transport minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook explained this morning, which will have implications for Zim customers in Europe, North America and Africa.

A Loadstar analysis of Zim services listed on the eeSea liner database which call at Malaysian ports reveals 17 of services it is associated with. However, in 12 of these – largely intra-Asia and Asia-Oceania strings – its participation is limited to slot-chartering deals, and it remains unclear what approach authorities will take.

Across the remaining five services, however, our calculations show the carrier has 28 vessels calling at Malaysia’s main container hub of Port Klang.

Its main exposure comes from two standalone deepsea east-west services – the ZMP Asia-Europe and the ZXB Asia-North America. The ZMP port rotation features two calls at Port Klang and deploys eight Zim-operated vessels, including the Zim Europe. The ZXB service features a starting call at Port Klang and deploys 11 ships of 5,100-6,800 teu capacity.

Zim also deploys seven vessels on the Asia-West Africa FAX service it operates in conjunction with Cosco and ONE, with Gold Star Line and OOCL as slot charterers, and features two calls at Port Klang

It also has one vessel deployed on the Asia-Middle East/India subcontinent CI3 service it operates in cooperation with OOCL, with CMA CGM, RCL and Gold Star slot chartering.

Finally, the Vietnam-Malaysia feeder service deploys two 990 teu feeders – one apiece from Gold Star and Zim – on a Port Klang-Ho Chi Minh-Port Klang-Tanjung Priok weekly rotation.

The question facing executives at Zim’s headquarters in Haifa will be whether these service rotations can be redesigned, or whether it will have to pull the services altogether.

There is also the potential for conflagration – if other countries follow Malaysia’s lead, Indonesia, Brunei, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Pakistan would be top of the list.

There are, too, other possible candidates. In Turkey, a hard-won diplomatic accord with Israel has deteriorated since 2009, when nine Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli security forces while attempting to thwart a blockade of Gaza. President Erdogan labelled Israel a “terrorist state” in 2011.

Suffering economically from vessel diversions from the Suez Canal, Egypt’s historical animosity against Israel, including several wars, has been tempered by economic ties with the country, including natural gas imports.

And South Africa, whose coast many vessels are now plying in efforts to avoid the Bab al-Mandab Strait, voted to close its Israeli embassy and sever diplomatic ties in November.

The Loadstar has contacted Zim for a comment.