By Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany's Hapag-Lloyd will decide on Wednesday whether to resume journeys through the Red Sea, a spokesperson said on Tuesday as Maersk prepared to return to the area after a U.S.-led operation began providing safety against attacks.

The world's top shipping firms, including Maersk and Hapag Lloyds (LON:), stopped transiting the Red Sea after Yemen's Houthi militant group starting targeting vessels earlier in December, disrupting global trade through the Suez Canal.

Instead they have rerouted via southern Africa, a longer and more expensive journey. The canal is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe.

On Sunday, Maersk said it was preparing to resume shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, citing the deployment of a U.S.-led military operation designed to ensure the safety of commerce in the area.

"We will decide tomorrow how we will proceed," the Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson said on Tuesday, declining to comment further.

The company had said last week it would redirect 25 ships by the end of the year to avoid the area.