After dozens of attacks against commercial ships in the last period, 18 major shipping companies are now avoiding the passage of their vessels through the Red Sea, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

“A large number of companies” have already decided to reroute their ships, which circumnavigate Africa, “in order to reduce attacks and the impact on seafarers”, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said, addressing the Security Council UN yesterday Wednesday.

The day before Tuesday, Danish shipping giant Maersk announced it was suspending cargo transfers through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden indefinitely.

Since the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly launched attacks on merchant ships they say are linked to Israeli interests or bound for Israeli ports.

The Red Sea, which connects the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean via the Egyptian Suez Canal, is one of the world’s most important sea lanes. 12% of world trade passes through there, the International Chamber of Commerce Shipping (ICS) estimates.

The Maersk vessel Hangzhou was hit on Saturday while passing through the Bab el Madeb Strait. The company said that initially the ship was able to continue its course, but then it was approached by four vessels, on board of which they opened fire and tried to board it. With the intervention of a military helicopter and the ship’s private guards, the attack was repelled, he added.

Attacks by the Houthis in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip pose a serious “international problem”, the governments of 12 countries, including the US, said in a joint statement on Wednesday, warning the Shiite militant movement to stop them “immediately”. declaring that otherwise he would “suffer the consequences”.

According to press reports, the administration of US President Joe Biden is considering the possibility of launching strikes against the Houthis.