Danish oil tankergroup Torm has decided to pause all transits through the southern Red Sea, it said on Friday.

“Because the situation is developing as it is with this speed, we have decided to pause all transits through the southern part of the Red Sea for now,” a spokesperson told Reuters.

The move comes after U.S-British strikes overnight hit Houthi military targets in Yemen.

Shipping companies have redirected vessels away from the Red Sea around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope after Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen stepped up attacks on vessels in the Gulf region to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)