DUBAI: Egypt’s Suez canal authority said on Sunday it was closely monitoring the impact of tensions in the Red Sea after recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on vessels in the southern part of the basin.

Two major freight firms including MSC, the world’s biggest container shipping line, said on Saturday they would avoid the Suez Canal as Houthi militants stepped up their assaults.

The authority is “closely following the consequences of current tensions,” the body’s chairman, Osama Rabie, said in a statement. Maritime traffic in the canal was currently normal, he added, without going into further detail.