FRANKFURT, Dec 26 Reuters German container shipping group HapagLloyd will decide on Wednesday whether to resume journeys through the Red Sea, a spokesperson said, as Maersk prepared to return to the area after USled efforts to prevent attacks.

The world39;s top shipping companies, including Maersk and HapagLloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes after Yemen39;s Houthi militant group began targeting vessels this month, disrupting global trade through the Suez Canal.

Instead they have rerouted via southern Africa, a longer and more expensive journey. The canal is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe.

We will decide tomorrow how we will proceed, a HapagLloyd spokesperson said on Tuesday, declining to comment further.

The company had said last week it would redirect 25 ships by the end of the year to avoid the area.

Danishbased Maersk had said on Sunday that it was preparing to resume shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, citing deployment of the USled military operation designed to ensure the safety of commerce in the area.

Maersk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday about when it would return vessels to the Suez Canal and what assistance it had received from the USled maritime force.

CMA CGM, another global shipping line, said it had no update to provide on whether it was planning to resume transit of the Red Sea.

In a notice posted on its website on Tuesday, the Frenchbased group listed 28 of its vessels as being…