TOKYO, Jan 17, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Japanese shipping firm Nippon Yusen said
Wednesday it is joining other major companies in suspending routes through
the Red Sea over Huthi rebel attacks on vessels in the vital waterway.

"We have suspended navigation through the Red Sea by all ships we operate," a
spokesman for the firm, also known as NYK Line, told AFP, adding the decision
was to "ensure the safety of crews."

Since Friday, US and British forces have been bombing scores of targets
inside Huthi-controlled Yemen in response to the attacks by the rebels, who
say they are targeting Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity
with Gaza.

The situation has heightened fears of the Israel-Hamas war flaring across the
region and disrupted trade in one of the world's key maritime commercial
routes.

The waterway between Asian and European markets normally carries about 12
percent of global maritime trade.

Diverting around the southern tip of Africa takes longer and is more
expensive.

Two other major Japanese shipping firms -- Kawasaki Kisen and Mitsui O.S.K.
Lines -- have also suspended navigation through the Red Sea, Japanese
business daily Nikkei reported Tuesday.

Officials of the two companies were not immediately available for comment on
the report.

Last month, Ocean Network Express, a container shipping business jointly set
up by the three Japanese firms said that they would avoid the Red Sea.

In November, the Huthi rebels said that they had seized a ship owned by an
Israeli businessman and rerouted it to Yemen's coast.

The vessel is operated by Nippon Yusen, which said it had set up a task team
to gather information to ensure the safety of the 25-strong crew.

As of Wednesday, however, Nippon Yusen has no fresh information on the seized
ship, the spokesman said.

"We have received no information, while we are worried about" the fate of the
vessel and its crew, he said.