Only a small number of ships belonging to the shipping company Maersk are still being diverted through the Cape of Good Hope to prevent attacks on the Red Sea.
Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping companies, announced earlier this week that it wants to resume shipping through the Red Sea. The container transport company cites the formation of the Red Sea Alliance as the reason for the decision. This partnership between more than twenty countries was established by the United States last week to protect ships in the Red Sea.
Major shipping companies and oil companies stopped using Red Sea routes earlier this month after attacks by Houthi rebels from Yemen. They attacked cargo ships in response to the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.
It is not yet clear whether other shipping companies, such as Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM, will dare to sail through the Red Sea again. Half of the container fleet that regularly sails through the Red Sea and Suez Canal is now avoiding the route, according to news agency data Bloomberg.
Currently, Maersk is the only shipping company that has announced that it will use the shipping route again.
