ZIM Lines
 
 
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of ZIM Israel Lines. An alphabetical list of ships shown on this page is shown below. The Table beneath gives links to complete history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table is a Fleet List in chronological order.
 
 
Ships on This Page:-
Artsa (ZIM Lines: 1949-195?)
Galilah (ZIM Lines: 1948-195?)
Israel (ZIM Lines: 1955-1966)
Jerusalem (1) (ZIM Lines: 1953-1957)
Jerusalem (2) (ZIM Lines: 1957-1969)
Kedmah (ZIM Lines: 1947-1952)
Moledet (ZIM Lines: 1961-1970)
Negbah (ZIM Lines: 1948-195?)
Shalom (ZIM Lines: 1964-1967)
Theodor Herzl (ZIM Lines: 1957-1969)
Zion (ZIM Lines: 1956-1966)
 
Associated Pages:-
Deutsche Atlantik
Dolphin Cruise Line
Eastern Cruise Lines
Epirotiki Line
Home Lines
Norwegian America Line
Regency Cruises
Royal Cruise Line
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References:-
www.zim.co.il - ZIM Lines company website
 
 
 
 
Table of Ship Histories

Name

Other names

 Built
 Shalom  Hanseatic, Doric, Royal Odyssey, Regent Sun

 1964
 Zion  Amélia de Mello, Ithaca, Dolphin IV

 1956
 
 
 
 
 
ZIM Lines Fleet List
 
 
Kedmah
(ZIM Lines: 1947-1952)
 
ZIM's first passenger ship, the Kedmah, operated from 1947 and carried passengers and immigrants to pre-state Israel, mostly from Genova and Marseilles. After the establishment of the State of Israel, ZIM's primary concern was to meet the demands of the unforeseen pressure for immigration.
 
 
Postcard of Kedmah.
 
 
 
 
 
Negbah
(ZIM Lines: 1948-195?)
 
Negbah (meaning Southward) with a GRT of 5544 reached Haifa in 1948 during the height of the battle for the Negev (the southern part of Israel). The Negbah was registered under the Israeli flag on 26.10.1948. She was launched as the Ecuador and changed her owners several times. Built in 1915 by the Royal de Schelde yards in Flushing for the Pacific Mail Line, which went bankrupt the following year, she was taken over by the Grace Line and her name was changed to Santa Olivia. In her subsequent history she served as a supply ship for the Libby Canneries in Alaska under the name of David W. Branch, and at the end of World War II she was in the U.S. Government's reserve fleet as the Luxor. When the Negbah was still the Ecuador she had a service speed of 14 knots, but when ZIM acquired her, she was capable of a little over 11.5 knots only. She could carry up to 1350 passengers and about 1000 tons of cargo. The Negbah ran the same service as the Kedmah but in spite of her condition, and being 14 years older than the Kedmah, she proved far more reliable. Her passenger quarters were refurbished twice during her service with ZIM.
 
Official ZIM postcard of Negbah.
 
 
 
 
 
Galilah
(ZIM Lines: 1948-195?)
 
The third elderly vessel joining ZIM's newly built up passenger fleet, was a 35 year old Hudson River excursion ship, renamed Galilah by ZIM and registered in Israel on 30.11.1948. Built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1913 as the Manhattan with a GRT of 3899, she served as an excursion vessel of an American railroad company. She was converted in World War I to a US Navy troop carrier owned by the Hudson River Day Line of New York. The vessel was then named De Witt Clinton, and was employed after the war for excursions to Hudson River resorts up-state New York. She was laid up during the years of the economic depression, and World War II found her trooping again under the name of Col. Frederic C. Johnson. She was bought by ZIM as the Derecktor still in the state of a troop carrier and her dormitories were converted from troop quarters to passenger accommodations with about 500 berths, but during the peak of the immigration season, between December 1948 and April 1949 she actually carried about 1300 passengers from various Mediterranean ports on each voyage.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Artsa
(ZIM Lines: 1949-195?)
 
With the increasing tourism to Israel, ZIM bought the 3214 GRT passenger steamer Artsa in 1949. She was built in Vegesack, Germany, in 1930, as the Panther. Her first owners were the German Laeisz Lines. Some years later she was converted into the U-boat tender Lech, and when ZIM bought her, she was plying the Mediterranean as the Italian Mare Ligure. Her Italian owners had actually operated her for some time prior to the purchase by ZIM as a mixed passenger/Cargo vessel between Italian ports and Haifa. She had a speed of 11 knots and accommodation for 394 passengers, but during her 14 years of service with she transported about 550 immigrants and passengers on each voyage and held the record of having carried over 100,000 persons in total. She entered the Israeli register on 14.12.1949. the name is rendered as Artsa on the cards, but Artza on the ZIM website.
 
Official ZIM postcard of Artsa.
 
Photograph of Artsa at Dubrovnik.
Scan: Neven Jerkovic of www.dubrovnikcruising.tk.
Click on the image to open a larger version in a new window
 
 
 
 
 
Jerusalem (1) - Aliya
(ZIM Lines: 1953-1959)
 
Jerusalem was delivered as Norwegian America Line's Bergensfjord (1) by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, England, in September 1913. She was a sistership to Kristianiafjord (1). She operated as a troop ship during World War Two, and was returned to NAL in 1946. They immediately sold her to Panama Lines for use as an emigrant carrier to South America as the Argentina, passing to Home Lines in 1952. In 1953 she was sold to ZIM Lines as their Jerusalem, for use on Israel-New York services (previous services had been within the Mediterranean). The Jerusalem crossed the ocean six times a year, which left her time to fill in five trips a year on the Company's Haifa-Naples-Marseilles run. In 1955 she was renamed the Aliya, releasing the name for the Jerusalem (2), and was scrapped in 1959.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Jerusalem (1).
 
 
 
 
 
Israel
(ZIM Lines: 1955-1966)
 
Two combined passenger- cargo liners, the sister- ships Israel and Zion respectively, commenced building in 1953 under the Reparation Payments Agreement. They were of 9831 GRT each and had a service speed of 17 knots, although the Israel on her trial trip reached a record of 21 knots. Both liners could accommodate 313 passengers each, in addition to their cargo capacity of about 4000 weight tons. Both vessels were fully equipped with all necessary passenger facilities such as bars, smoking rooms, sport decks, swimming pools, children's playrooms, hairdressing salons and a gift shop. The four passenger decks were served by an elevator, quite a unique feature in vessels of their size. The Israel and Zion came into operation in 1956 and 1957 respectively. The two new combined passenger- cargo vessels were able to carry, during their eight yearly scheduled voyages, about 10,000 passengers per annum. She was sold to Empresa Insulana de Navegacao as Angra do Heroismo in 1966.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Israel.
 
Gustav Roedecker (Hamburg) photographic postcard of Israel.
 
Photographic postcard of Israel.
 
 
 
 
 
Zion
(ZIM Lines: 1956-1966)
 
Zion was built for ZIM Lines in 1956. She was built by Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, as part of Germany's reparations to Israel after WW2. She operated on the Haifa to New York service, with her sistership the Israel. As built, Zion was 9855grt, 152m long and carried 312 passengers in two classes. She was powered by steam turbines to give a speed of 19 knots, through a single screw. Zion was sold in 1966, becoming the Portuguese Amélia de Mello, of Sociedade Geral de Commercio.
 
Amélia de Mello was sold and converted to a cruise ship in 1972, reappearing as the Ulysses Line Ithaca. The ship was transferred to the Caribbean as Dolphin IV in 1979. She ran 3- and 4-day cruises to the Bahamas from Miami. Initially she ran under joint management with Paquet, but in 1984, new company Dolphin Cruise Line took over.
 
Dolphin IV was sold to Cape Canaveral Cruise Line in 1998, for short Bahamas cruises out of Port Canaveral. The service was withdrawn in 2000, and the ship was laid up.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Zion.
 
 
Boedecker & Drauz (Hamburg) photographic postcard of Zion.
 
Fotowerkstatt (Hamburg) postcard of Zion.
 
 
 
 
 
Jerusalem (2)
(ZIM Lines: 1957-196?)
 
In the framework of the Reparation Payments Agreement with Germany, ZIM took delivery in 1957 of the sister passenger liners Theodor Herzl and Jerusalem (2). During the winter season of 1958/59,eck ZIM entered the international cruise market from the United States to the Caribbean Islands with three cruises per season. Jerusalem (2) became the New Bahama Star of Eastern Cruise Lines.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Jerusalem (2).
 
 
Photographic postcard of Jerusalem (2).
 
 
 
 
 
Theodor Herzl
(ZIM Lines: 1957-1969)
 
In the framework of the Reparation Payments Agreement with Germany, ZIM took delivery in 1957 of the sister passenger liners Theodor Herzl and Jerusalem (2). The passenger vessel Theodor Herzl was named in honour of the visionary of the Jewish State. During the winter season of 1958/59 ZIM entered the international cruise market from the United States to the Caribbean Islands with three cruises per season. The last of the Company's passenger vessels, the Theodor Herzl, completed her final voyage for ZIM on November 27th, 1969 and was sold to the American International Service Travel Board, Monrovia.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Theodor Herzl.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Theodor Herzl.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Theodor Herzl.
 
 
Official Bermuda Star Line postcard of Vera Cruz (ex-Theodor Herzl).
 
 
 
 
 
Moledet
(ZIM Lines: 1961-1970)
 
Moledet was built for ZIM Lines in 1961. She was added as a third liner to the ZIM Lines' Mediterranean Passenger Line. Moledet was a single-class vessel, built in France. She had was one large dining room, 2 lounges, a movie theatre, a synagogue and a special dining room for children. In spite of frequent engine troubles, the vessel enjoyed a great deal of popularity amongst her passengers. The Moledet plied the route Haifa-Marseilles-Haifa with an additional stopover in Genoa or Naples, for about 9 years. She was sold in 1970, after having made 225 voyages, to Greek owners, the Epirotiki Line, and was renamed Jupiter.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Moledet.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Moledet (alternate copy).
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Moledet.
 
 
 
 
 
Shalom
(ZIM Lines: 1964-1967)
 
The ZIM Israel liner Shalom was built in 1964. After only three years, she was bought by the Deutsche Atlantik group in 1967 and renamed Hanseatic (2). She was sold again to Home Lines in 1973, and named Doric (Home Lines needed to find a replacement for the fire-damaged Homeric (1)). She served with Home Lines until the new Atlantic was delivered in 1981, when she was sold to Royal Cruise Line as their Royal Odyssey. In 1988 she became the Regent Sun in the Regency Cruises fleet. She has been inactive since the Regency Cruises bankruptcy, despite an announced sale to Royal Venture cruises as their Sun Venture. Current name is listed just as Sun, with owners Canyon Ranch. She is currently stripped and out of service, having been intended for use as a floating hotel.
 
 
Official ZIM postcard of Shalom.
 
Official ZIM postcard of Shalom.
 
Official ZIM postcard of Shalom.
 
CT Publishing postcard of Shalom.
 
 
 
 
 
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