In some parts of the world, there are barely any of the ships — each the length of three football fields — left for hire.

Each ship will have a capacity of 18,600 twenty-foot equivalent units, with dual-fuel engines that can operate on liquefied natural gas.

The Vivit Africa LNG was sailing east in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas toward Italy early this month when the crew were suddenly unable to access some of the internal control systems

Attacks in the maritime sector have escalated in recent years as vessels become increasingly dependent on digital systems for navigation, communications and other operations. 

Improvement in ships’ navigational systems makes monitoring their movements easier. Yet, it also makes them more vulnerable to hackers.

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd say that they plan to continue monitoring the security situation in the Middle East, and that any changes to services will depend on the ongoing stability of the Red Sea region.

Before the conflict, Jebel Ali was the busiest container port outside of Asia, ranking in the top 10 globally and serving mostly as a transshipment hub.

At stake is the bloc’s influence in the area as President Donald Trump covets Greenland, Russia increasingly threatens Europe, and China seeks to gain a foothold.

The Houthis earlier said they posed no threat to international shipping, and that they only planned to target vessels from Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis’ aim to force Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.