The German navy will move two vessels from the Red Sea region to the eastern Mediterannean “in the coming days”, AFP reports citing a statement from the defence ministry.

The “Fulda” minesweeper and the “Mosel” supply ship were currently in Djibouti, a ministry spokesman confirms to AFP. They had been sent last month in preparation for a possible mission in the Strait of Hormuz after the end of the US-Iran war.

However, the ministry statement cites the “volatile political situation … and the absence of any foreseeable near-term start of operations” in the Strait of Hormuz.

Keeping the vessels deployed in the region indefinitely “represented a strain on their technical systems”, it said.