Swedish company Electrolux has created a task force to find alternative maritime trade routes as vessels passing through the Red Sea fear attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Al Jazeera reports.

The announcement comes as more than a dozen international shipping firms pause operations in the Red Sea and the US forms an international naval coalition to patrol the waters.

The French foreign minister, whose country is a part of the US-led naval task force, said that France would also strengthen its operational capacity in the Red Sea “to put an end to these attacks”.