Zim

Israeli container line Zim Integrated Shipping Services has been rescued from the brink of collapse by parent company Israel Corp, which is to inject US$350m in emergency funds into the business.

The company is anticipating losses of US$1bn, according to Port2Port. Zim reported a loss of US$119m in the first quarter compared with US$29m a year earlier, with revenue slumping to US$622m compared with $1.04bn, as traffic plummeted by 33 per cent to 410,000 TEU.

Israel Corp said that the handout, which would be paid in instalments and comes on top of US$100m already provided, “is required and essential to the continuation of Zim’s operations”.

It added that the shipping sector had sustained “a heavy blow over the last two years,” something that had “not been seen for over 40 years, a drop in demand deriving from negative or slow growth worldwide, against a surplus of supply”.