Thunder! Complete ban on Israeli ships! Block ZIM permanently!

In a statement released on December 20, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's office also noted that it has decided to restrict and prohibit vessels under the Israeli shipping company ZIM Shipping from calling at any Malaysian port. Immediate action will be taken to impose a permanent ban on the company, effective immediately.

In addition, Malaysia also "prohibits any vessel bound for Israel from loading cargo in Malaysian ports." It is also worth noting that any ship with an Israeli port on its route is banned, which means that other shipping companies are prohibited from calling at Malaysian ports as long as they have a port on Israeli ports. This presents a binary dilemma for all shipping companies. However, the most difficult situation for freight forwarders is to sign long-term contracts with customers before freight rates rise significantly.

This means that freight forwarders are facing rising cost pressures when transporting goods, but are unable to adjust the lower prices agreed with customers. This situation not only affects the profitability of freight forwarders, but can also lead to tensions with customers.

"The sanctions are a response to Israel's disregard for basic humanitarian principles, violation of international law, and continued massacres and cruel treatment of the Palestinian people," the statement said. Muslim-majority Malaysia does not recognise Israel. Anwar is considered one of the most outspoken leaders against Israel and its US backers, although the US remains Malaysia's main trading partner. The Malaysian government said in a statement that it had allowed EsAR vessels to dock in the country since 2002, and then extended the decision to allow them to load and unload cargo in 2005. "But the government today decided to reverse past cabinet decisions and not allow Israeli-flagged vessels to dock in Malaysia."

Israel's economy depends on seaborne trade, but the country is not a major flag state and its total number of ships is dwarfed by larger flag states such as Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands.

On the other hand, Malaysia has the second largest port in Southeast Asia, Port Klang, which occupies the confluence of the Strait of Malacca, known as the golden maritime route in the world, and was ranked as the 12th busiest port in the world in 2021. However, with the escalation of attacks by Houthi forces in Yemen on "Israeli-linked vessels" in the Red Sea, shipping routes to and from Israel have been severely disrupted since mid-November. That has forced several shipping lines, including Cosco, Eva, ONE and OOCL, to stop booking Israeli cargo or have other shipping lines or charge extra surcharges, even after the Israeli government said in October it would compensate ships damaged by the conflict.