Danish shipping company Maersk has decided to route nearly all its container vessels between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal. Only a few vessels will be diverted around Africa, Al Jazeera reports, citing a Reuters report.

Major shipping companies, including Maersk, had stopped using the Red Sea routes due to a spate of attacks on vessels by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, opting instead to sail a longer route via the Cape of Good Hope.

Maersk cited the deployment of a US-led military operation to protect vessels as the reason for returning to the Red Sea.