An explosion struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship Tuesday traveling north through the Red Sea, sparking a major fire that forced its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said.

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.

SAN DIEGO— Sailors aboard the USS Stockdale were tapping threat data analysis from a local naval base hours before their destroyer came under attack by Houthis in the Red Sea—and it was a “game changer,” the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command said Thursday.

Shipping companies expressed caution about using the shorter route between Asia and Europe that many ships have avoided for more than a year.

Mandeb strait decreased by 50% after the Yemeni rebels launched maritime attacks, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

An American destroyer, USS Spruance, shot down six missiles and seven drones during a recent Red Sea combat deployment.

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.

European forces joined the US Navy last year in an effort to defend key shipping lanes from Houthi rebel attacks.

The Swedish fashion retailer saw a dip in sales in the time leading up to Black Friday and Christmas, although it said sales growth improved in December and January

Germany's Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, late on Thursday extended four overseas missions of the country's armed forces, just weeks before the parliamentary election on February 23. The German Navy will continue to participate in the European Union military mission in the Red Sea aimed at protecting the important maritime shipping route

A vermilion dot on the forehead is one of India’s most widely accepted Hindu cultural insignias. But at the festival, where millions are flocking to pray and bathe at the confluence of India’s holy rivers, it morphs into a major display of Hinduism in various forms and designs.