Israeli shippers urge government help for Zim

Israeli shippers urge government help for Zim    Israeli Shippers' Council Chairman Gad Schaeffer said last week that keeping Israeli-based shipping line Zim afloat was of the utmost importance to the country's shippers.
   'The current distress of Zim, following its privatization, cannot be considered as a problem of its private owners,' Schaeffer said in a statement to Israeli press last week. 'That is a narrow viewpoint that fails to consider Israel’s national interest.'
   The statement was run in English on the Port2Port Web site, an Israeli trade news agency.
   “The damage from the loss of this anchor of marine shipping to and from Israel, and of Israel’s foreign trade, will be far greater than any aid injected into Zim to rescue it from the crisis,” he added.
   Schaeffer said Israeli shippers were dependent on reliable service from carriers to the country's ports, service that couldn't necessarily be counted on without a viable Israel-based carrier.
   Though Zim, formerly a state-owned entity, is now privately owned, Schaeffer said it is vital for the government to ensure the troubled carrier survives the current downturn. Zim's parent company Israel Corp. is projecting losses of $1 billion through 2013, but last week said it has negotiated a delivery delay for four 10,000-TEU ships. It also said it is projecting to turn an operating profit of $100 million by 2011.