Israeli shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. will write off US$72 million in its 2013 financial results, due to the cancellation of an order for four container vessels.
In 2007, Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. ordered four 8,800 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) ships from Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, but cancelled them, along with orders for larger ships, a year ago.
It would have had to pay US$1.5 billion for the vessels but all that Zim lost was a small down payment. Zim will not need to pay any more amounts to the shipyards, it said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The deals were cancelled a year ago as part of a new business plan and as the ships are far cheaper today - US$100 million versus US$170 million - and more efficient.
