Two major shipping groups have suspended navigation through the Gulf as conflict flared between the United States, Israel and Iran, piling onto a growing maritime slowdown in the region, AFP reports.

France’s CMA CGM issued a statement telling its vessels in the Gulf to “take shelter” and also suspended passage through the Suez Canal because of the regional conflict.

“All ships currently in the Gulf, or on route to the Gulf, have received the instruction, with immediate effect, to take shelter,” said the statement from CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping company.

“Passage through the Suez is suspended until further notice and ships will be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope,” which would prolong the journey by thousands of kilometres, the statement added.

Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company, said it was suspending all transit through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the open seas, “until further notice.”