Launched in Israel in 1945, ZIM became a pioneer in container shipping in the early 1970’s, and has established itself as a leading global, asset light container liner shipping company. We provide customers with innovative seaborne transportation and logistics services, covering the world’s major trade routes and focusing on select markets where we have competitive advantages and are able to maximize our market position.
ZIM’s unique strategy as a digital-oriented, asset-light, global niche carrier offers distinctive advantages, allowing the company to provide innovative and premium customer-centric services while maximizing profitability.
Through this focused strategy, enhanced digital tools, and a reputation as a top industry performer with high schedule reliability and service quality, ZIM is positioned to continue to expand its leadership and achieve best-in-class margins.
In a dynamic shipping and logistics environment, ZIM has set itself apart as a carrier with a fresh, unique approach. Supporting our central mission of providing the highest levels of customer service, we have implemented an innovative, data-driven strategy promoting digitization and introducing creative solutions to the market aimed at meeting customers' evolving needs.
As part of our “Innovative Shipping” vision, we rely on careful analysis of data, including business and artificial intelligence, to better understand the needs of our customers and digitize our products, without compromising our long-standing reputation for a distinct personal approach to customer relations. We operate and innovate as a truly customer-centric company, constantly striving to provide a best-in-class product offering.
ZIM operates a fleet of close to 100 vessels, nearly all chartered-in. This asset-light model, which differentiates us relative to our competition, enables us to benefit from a flexible cost structure and operational efficiency. This, in turn, increases profitability and allows us to better serve our customers.
With operations in select trades across five geographic trade zones, ZIM is a significant market participant with a sizeable market share and global footprint. These trades include the Transpacific, Cross Atlantic, Cross Suez, Intra-Asia and Latin America. Within these trade zones, ZIM strives to increase and sustain profitability by selectively competing in niche trade lanes where the market is underserved and ZIM can maintain a competitive advantage versus its peers. In addition, ZIM enjoys an in-depth knowledge, long-established presence and outsized market position in these trade lanes. ZIM also embarks into new trade lanes opportunistically, often driven by demand from customers as they are not currently serviced in-full by our competitors. These include the US East Coast & Gulf to Mediterranean lane, East Mediterranean & Black Sea to East Asia Far East lane, and East Asia to US East Coast.
In response to the growing rise in eCommerce, ZIM recently launched new premium high-speed services: ZIM eCommerce Xpress (ZEX), which moves freight from China to Los Angeles, and ZIM China Australia Express (CAX), which moves freight from China to Australia. These solutions for time-sensitive cargo, which provide a compelling alternative to air freight, illustrate our agility and ability to quickly and efficiently execute in new niche lanes where we can offer a unique product and become the carrier of choice for our customers.
Importantly, ZIM's sizeable network is also significantly enhanced by cooperation agreements with other leading container liner companies and alliances, allowing us to maintain a high degree of agility while optimizing fleet utilization by sharing capacity, expanding our service offering and benefiting from cost savings.