PUTRAJAYA, Dec 21 — Israeli-based shipping company, ZIM, needs to remove 4,000 transshipment containers that are still stranded in the country, especially at Port Klang, soon, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

This follows the Malaysian government’s decision yesterday to restrict and disallow the company’s ships from docking at any port in the country with immediate effect.

"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.

Loke said this at a press conference after the signing ceremony of the Lease Agreement between MRT Corp and the Federal Commissioner of Lands here today.

According to him, ZIM will be given a little time to manage all the stranded containers as it involves various destinations.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in a statement yesterday, announced that the government has decided not to allow ships flying the Israeli flag to dock in the country with immediate effect. Additionally, any ship en route to Israel is prohibited from loading cargo at Malaysian ports.

Anwar stated that the government is confident that these decisions will not affect Malaysia’s trade activities. — Bernama