COPENHAGEN, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Danish shipping company Maersk MAERSKb.CO announced on Friday that one of its vessels successfully navigated the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the first time in nearly two years, though it currently has no plans to fully reopen the route.

Maersk began diverting vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope in January 2024 after Yemen’s Houthi militants attacked ships in the area in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Maersk said in a statement on Friday that one of its vessels, Maersk Sebarok, had made the transit on Thursday and Friday.

“Whilst this is a significant step forward, it does not mean that we are at a point where we are considering a wider East-West network change back to the trans-Suez corridor,” it said.

It, however, said that it was considering continuing a “stepwise approach” towards resuming passage. There are currently no additional planned sailings, it added.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen)

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