The Fleets

Zim / Zim Israel Lines, Haifa

On 7 June 1945, the Zim Palestine Navigation Co. Ltd was established by Israel’s Jewish Agency, Histadrut Labor Federation and the Israel Maritime League. The company was formed to provide a regular Jewish owned passenger service in the Mediterranean and with limited funds a subsidiary company, the Kedem Palestine Line was formed early 1947. This was a joint venture with the London based Harris & Dixon Ltd. Its first ship, the KEDMAH, was purchased.
After the establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948 Zim’s primary concern was to meet the demands of the unforeseen pressure for immigration. In the days immediately following the Declaration of Independence, the vessels which had carried illegal immigrants, caught by the British during their Mandate in Palestine, were reactivated by the same men who were previously in charge of that illegal immigration and they continued transporting the now legal immigrants. These vessels came under a newly formed company simply named Ships & Vessels. The first Minister of Transport, David Remez decided that it was necessary to build up one large National Shipping Line, and with his active assistance Ships & Vessels and Zim officially merged on August 15, 1948. The ships of both companies were then operated by the Shoham Maritime Services Ltd, a wholly owned Zim subsidiary and the company was renamed Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd
During the 1948 war, the company was the sole maritime connection with the state of Israel, supplying food, freight and military equipment.
The KEDMAH was sold in 1952 to the old partners, Harris and Dixon, and was renamed Golden Isles. She cruised around the Mediterranean until 1954, when Zim chartered the ship again for a several voyages. On the first of these voyages the ship came to the rescue of a French passenger liner, Champollion, which in December 1952 grounded and sank near Beirut. She rescued 186 survivors. In 1956 Harris and Dixon sold her for scrap.

In the early 1950s Zim expanded its cargo operations across the North Atlantic by the acquisition of two of its Israeli competitors M. Dizengoff & Co. Ltd in 1952 and the Israel America Line in 1953.
Zim became a member of the North Atlantic Passenger Conference and bought Home Lines Argentina; the former Norwegian liner Bergensfjord; for its first transatlantic passenger service in April 1953, she was renamed JERUSALEM.
Her itinerary was as follows: Haifa, Limassol, Malta, Cannes, Halifax and New York. She crossed the ocean six times a year, as well as five voyages on the Haifa, Naples, Marseilles run. With the acquisition of a new liner JERUSALEM (1) was renamed ALIYA in 1955. She remained in Zim's services until l959 when she was sold for scrap.

Between 1954 and 1961 thirty five new ships were built in West Germany as paying for lost property taken from Jews persecuted by the Nazis and the cost of resettlements in Israel. The passenger Liner ISRAEL was the first ship to be completed for Zim. She and her sister ZION, were built in 1955 and 1956 respectively, by the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, under the Reparation Payments Agreement. They were built to operate the Trans-Atlantic service, sailing from Haifa, Piraeus, Naples, Gibraltar, Funchal to New York. The primary purpose was to bring Jews back to their ancient homeland.
Zim took delivery of JERUSALEM (2) and her sister THEODOR HERZL in 1957. Both ships were designed for the Mediterranean service, but they differed from their earlier sisters in having a shallower draught and twin screws. From 1965 both ships were used exclusively for cruise duties.
During the winter season of 1958-59 Zim entered for the first time the international cruise market from the United States to the Caribbean Islands with three cruises per season.

The one class liner Moledet was launched on February 19, 1961 and was completed later that year. In spite of frequent engine troubles, the vessel enjoyed a great deal of popularity amongst her passengers. Zim took her out of service in 1969. She was sold in 1970 having made 225 voyages, to the Greek Epirotiki Line (later to become Royal Olympia Cruises) and renamed Jupiter.
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 passenger ship SHALOM built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire.
On a thick foggy day on November 26, 1964, the SHALOM departed New York commencing a cruise. Not long out to sea, just off Point Pleasant, 28 miles south west of Ambrose Light, she collided with, and sliced through a Norwegian tanker, the Stolt Dagali. Sadly 19 crew members of the Stolt Dagali were lost.
The SHALOM was not a great success and was sold in 1967 after only three years of service.
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 1965, the first Israeli constructed ship, the ESTHER, was built in Haifa and delivered to Zim.

By the late sixties, as air travel increased and the importance of the passenger market decreased, the mounting losses made it impossible for Zim to continue offering scheduled passenger services. The Modelet was sold in 1970 and two State owned ferries the DAN and Nili which were operated by Zim were laid up in 1974 at Haifa.

In 1969, the Israel Corporation acquired approximately 50% of Zim from the Israeli government, beginning a new era focused on international expansion and specialized cargo shipping. By 1970, when Zim celebrated its 25th anniversary, the company had 77 wholly-owned ships and 70 chartered ships, and operated nineteen major cargo lines, carrying 4.3 million tons of cargo per year.
The last of the Company's passenger vessels, THEODOR HERZL, completed her final voyage for Zim on November, 27th 1969 and was sold to the American International Service Travel Board, Monrovia. Like her sister ship, the JERUSALEM (2), she, too, was employed by her new owners in the Caribbean as a floating luxury hotel under her new name Carnivale.
In 1970, Zim moved boldly into container shipping, becoming one of the first carriers to adopt the technology that has come to dominate the modern era. Six specialized container ships were ordered together with containers and shore equipment.
In 1972, Zim introduced its pioneering ZCS – Zim Container Service three-continent line, with ships making a scheduled, 100-day journey that originated in Israel and sailed to ports of call in the Far East, Asia, America and Europe.
During this period, ZIM also deployed tankers to carry crude oil from Iran to Israel, as well as finished goods from Israel to Europe.
In 1981 one of the company's ships the MEZADA, was lost at sea.

At the beginning of the 1980s Zim was suffering, alongside other shipping companies, from the lull in maritime shipping, but it recovered. and embarked on a massive project of renovation and fleet expansion. From 1990 to 1997, the company built 15 modern ships, enabling the company to offer a weekly, fixed-day sailing schedule, positioning Zim among the world’s top-ranking shipping companies.
Around 1997 the ownership of Zim was divided between the Israeli government and Hachevra Le-Israel.

In 1997, in light of a worldwide shipping crisis, Zim launched a new program aimed at optimizing the company’s operations through increased efficiency and focused expansion. The company added 13 new 5000-TEU container ships to its fleet, increasing Zim’s carriage capacity by 50% within two years
In 1999, the Ofer Brothers Group became the controlling shareholder of the Israel Corporation and In 2004, the Ofer Group-controlled Israel Corporation acquired the Israeli Government’s remaining Zim shares, completing the privatization of the company.

Many thanks to Henk Jungerius and Ted Finch for their assistance in collecting this data. The following list was extracted from various sources. This is not an all inclusive list but should only be used as a guide. If you would like to know more about a vessel, visit the Ship Descriptions (onsite) or Immigrant Ship web site.

• Routes:
  • Haifa-Marseilles-Genoa-Limassol
  • Haifa-Marseilles-Genoa-Naples
  • Haifa-Limassol-Malta-Cannes-Halifax-New York
  • Haifa-Piraeus-Naples-Gibraltar-Funchal-New York
  • Haifa-Limassol-Piraeus-Venice

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Last updated: July 14, 2009 and maintained by and M. Kohli