CAIRO (Reuters) - Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie has told shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk there are signs of stability returning to the Red Sea, and urged the company to take that into account when planning sea routes, according to a statement from the SCA.

The world’s top three container operators said they fear instability in Gaza and broader regional tensions mean continued danger.

An explosion forced the crew of a Hong Kong-flagged container ship to abandon the vessel Tuesday near the coast of Yemen, shipping industry officials said.

French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM will continue to avoid the Red Sea even though it considers the region is more stable following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, it said on Saturday.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has released the crew of a cargo ship more than a year after its fighters hijacked the vessel in the Red Sea, as part of its campaign of attacks in support of Hamas in its war against Israel.

Curt Mills, the executive director of "The American Conservative" magazine, speaks with Tucker Carlson about the failures of the U.S. foreign policy establishment, especially with regard to the push among modern-day neo-conservatives to push for a war with Iran.

Supply chains have had to deal with higher shipping costs, product delivery delays, and increased carbon emissions as a result of this diversion. The Gaza ceasefire gave some hope that the disruption would finally end. But shipping lines will not hurry back to the region until long-term security is guaranteed.

The Navy’s surface fleet has spent the past 15 months taking down hundreds of missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels at U.S. and allied Navies’ ships, as well as commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea.

The crew of the Hong Kong-flagged ASL Bauhinia have abandoned the container ship in the Red Sea after it caught fire on Tuesday, two maritime sources said, adding the cause of the incident was not immediately clear.

CMA CGM, the French container line that has continued to transit the Red Sea despite attacks on shipping, said it will continue to route most of its affected services away from the region.

Operations at a Red Sea port in Yemen used for aid imports have fallen to about a quarter of its capacity, a UN official said on Tuesday, adding it was not certain that a Gaza ceasefire would end attacks between the Iran-backed Houthis and Israel.

Angeliki Frangou and Evangelos Marinakis discuss the geopolitical and financial challenges shaping the shipping industry’s future at The Economist event in Athens