Civilian shipping and oil companies such as Maersk and BP aren’t the only ones telling their merchant vessels to avoid the Red Sea for fear of being attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. The German government this week ordered two of its warships to go around Africa because of the threats, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

On Monday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the frigate Baden-Wurttemberg and the naval supply ship Frankfurt am Main would take the much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope when returning from a months-long mission in the Indo-Pacific region.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the Baden-Wurttemberg and the Frankfurt am Main while they were anchored in Goa, India, at the end of their deployment. The German Defense Ministry was then considering whether the ships’ return to Europe through the Red Sea was justifiable, according to Der Spiegel.

“In the end, skepticism prevailed. The main reason was that the security situation in the Red Sea has deteriorated significantly,” according to the report. “In addition, the other nations that operate there with warships reported that an escort was currently not possible.”

Most major shipping companies are avoiding the area because of the Houthis, who are causing delays in the global supply chain and ratcheting up global transportation costs, analysts said.

The commander of Operation Aspides, the European Union’s naval mission in the Red Sea region, recently warned that the Houthis are constantly adapting their tactics even as several nations — including the U.S. — work to counter their attacks on shipping.

“The Houthis have succeeded in extending the radius of their attacks to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean,” Der Spiegel reported. “The commander called on member states to quickly provide more warships for his mission.”