In late 2023, the first specimens of Pinctada radiata, a pearl oyster native to the Red Sea, were spotted in the Gulf of Poets, a popular tourist area around 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Genoa on Italy's north-western coast.

The offshoot conflict in the Red Sea has meant higher freight costs and increased expenses for insuring commercial trade goods.

Today’s Red Sea skirmishes raise multifaceted concerns, which range from the war in Gaza widening and awakening old wounds, to geopolitical frontlines being rewritten by shifting chokepoints.

Govt guidelines issued for ships using the route

Shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday it would not resume passage through a key Red Sea strait "until further notice,"

Maersk suspending its vessels' passage through a key Red Sea strait for 48 hours, following an attack by Yemeni rebels on one of its merchant ships

Maersk has scheduled several dozen container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea

 Denmark's Maersk is preparing to resume shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the company said on Sunday, citing the deployment of a US-led military operation designed to ensure the safety of commerce in the area

Attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea are disrupting maritime trade and prompting US efforts to build a coalition to deal with the threat, as freight firms reroute around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal.

Two more major shipping firms, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, said on Saturday they were suspending passage through a Red Sea strait vital for global trade, after Yemeni rebel attacks in the area.

Israel and Jordan have long pursued a common goal to stop the Dead Sea from shrinking while slaking their shared thirst for drinking water with a pipeline from the Red Sea some 200 kilometres away.

A Russian airliner crashes in central Sinai killing all 224 people on board, Egyptian officials say.

At least 13 people were killed and 38 others wounded in the bombing of a wedding in a rebel-held Yemeni town, a medical source said on Thursday.