Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim conceded the government’s move to bar vessels belonging to ZIM (ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd) and those flying the Israeli flag from docking in Malaysian ports could lead to losses in trade.
However, he said the risks from a trade perspective were still under control.
“In relation to the banning of Israeli vessels from entering, there would be risks in terms of trade.
“I have discussed with (Transport Minister) Anthony Loke and (Investment, Trade and Industry) Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and they feel that up to this point, we can still control (the repercussions).
“Perhaps we will incur a small loss because of the ships not entering (Malaysian ports) but this is our humanitarian principle,” Utusan Online quoted him telling reporters at the sidelines of an event in Tanjung Malim, Perak.
Apart from ZIM vessels and those flying the Israeli flag, Anwar yesterday announced that ships headed for Israel were also barred from loading cargo from Malaysian ports.
This comes ahead of plans for a ZIM ship to dock in Port Klang on Dec 26.
Anwar said the block was in response to the Israeli government's violation of human rights and international laws in their continued assault on Palestinians.
He explained that the government first allowed ZIM ships to dock in Malaysia in 2002.
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who supported the ban, explained his government’s decision to allow ZIM’s ships to dock in Malaysia.
Mahathir, who was prime minister in 2002, said the permission was granted because Putrajaya was hopeful for a positive outcome from the Palestine-Israel peace efforts.
He said the government also allowed the Israeli cricket team at the time to enter Malaysia, hoping that its citizens would see how Malaysia’s Muslim-majority population could coexist peacefully with those of other faiths.
“Unfortunately, it is clear that our efforts were in vain because Israel continued to kill Palestinians,” he added on Facebook.
ZIM’s stranded containers
In a related development, Loke said ZIM needs to remove 4,000 transshipment containers that are still stranded in the country, especially at Port Klang, soon.
"All of these containers are handled by ZIM. So when we take this action by prohibiting them from docking, this shipping company needs to contact other shipping companies to transport these containers out in the near future to their next destination," he said.
According to him, ZIM will be given some time to manage all the stranded containers as it involves various destinations. - Mkini
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