PIRACY: Shipping firms split on return to Red Sea as Houthi attacks continue.

Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen Line, the container shipping arm of Evergreen Group, told CNN Wednesday that they would continue to reroute vessels via the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip. MSC said the same Tuesday.

“At the moment we still consider the situation too dangerous to pass,” a spokesperson for Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd said in a statement. “We continuously assess the situation and plan a next review on Friday.”

In an update posted to its website at 5 a.m ET on Friday, Hapag-Lloyd said it continued to divert its ships to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Evergreen Line referred CNN to a December 18 statement in which the company said it had instructed its container ships to suspend navigation through the Red Sea “until further notice.”

The West used to hang pirates summarily and merchant vessels were free to travel as they saw fit.