Maersk diverts vessels away from Red Sea 'for the foreseeable future'

OSLO (Reuters) - All Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden will instead be diverted south around Africa's Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future, the Danish company said in a statement on Friday.

Maersk on Jan. 2 said it would pause all vessels bound for the Red Sea and thus the Suez Canal shortcut between Europe and Asia following an attack on one of its ships by Yemen's Houthi militants, and has since begun redirecting ships around Africa.

"The situation is constantly evolving and remains highly volatile, and all available intelligence at hand confirms that the security risk continues to be at a significantly elevated level," Maersk said on Friday.

"We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea (and) Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future," it said.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely and Anna Ringstrom)