To date 23 shipping companies representing both E.U. and Asian nations have suspended passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea due to the action of Houthi militants in Yemen that continue attacks on vessels in international waters transiting the Bab el Mandeb Strait. 

As an alternative, E.U. shipping companies in France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway and in Asia including Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are diverting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. This adds as much as 14 days and $1 million in operating cost per Panamax-sized shipment between Asia and the E.U.  Military action by the U.S. in cooperation with other NATO countries has apparently not resolved the problem of missiles and ordinance fired from mobile launches in eastern Yemen. With passage through the Suez Canal down by half, Egypt is loosing considerable revenue that supports the fragile economy.