HAMBURG, Jan 31 (Reuters) -

Attacks on cargo vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen-based Houthi rebels are unlikely to end soon, forcing shipping companies to avoid the route through the Suez Canal, the head of Germany's Hapag-Lloyd told reporters in Hamburg.

"We don't think it will be over the day after tomorrow," said chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen in a news briefing. "Whether it'll be one, three or five months - I don't know."

A political deal and a mission to protect freight vessels might bring a resolution within six months, he added.

(Reporting by Elke Ahlswede, writing by Vera Eckert, editing by Rachel More)