Just days after Houthi militants in Yemen sank the second vessel of their attacks that began last November, the first LNG tanker has been sailing through Red Sea since January.

Shiptracking data provided by LSEG and Kpler revealed that Asya Energy passed Yemen on Tuesday while travelling through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, at the same time as the second vessel believed to have suffered a militant attack sank.

Olumide Ajayi, LSEG analyst, said: "Asya Energy's LNG tanker is the first LNG vessel to sail through Strait since January when LNG voyages across the Red Sea were suspended due to repeated rocket attacks."

He added that data showed the ship carried cargo.

After repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea area, most LNG tankers avoided the route. The attacks have spread to other waterways and are viewed as acts of solidarity between Palestinians and Israel in the Gaza war.

The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, creating the shortest route between Europe, Asia and Africa. It is also connected to the Gulf of Aden via the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which runs between Yemen and Djibouti.

Kpler data indicates that Asya Energy, a company flying the flag of Palau, is headed to Gibraltar. It had previously docked at the Sohar Port in Oman.

The charterer of the ship was not immediately apparent.

Equasis showed that Lule One Services owns the ship and is managed by Nur Global Shipping. Both companies are based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Nur Global Shipping didn't respond immediately to a LinkedIn request for comment.

Could not find any contact information for Lule One Services.

Ana Subasic is a natural gas and LNG analyst with Kpler. She said that the Asya Energy could soon be the first vessel to make the Red Sea Passage since Jan. 12, after waiting along the coast of Oman from mid-January.

She said that the automatic identification system (AIS), which is a signal fed to our platform, shows the ballast ship has taken a course toward the Gibraltar Checkpoint. However, it's too early to make an accurate prediction.

We are watching it very closely and we're waiting for new raw signals from the market or other sources.

Leading industry groups have called on urgent action to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Their first ship, the British-owned Rubymar on March 2, was sunk two weeks after it had been hit by missiles. (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton, Clarence Fernandez, Cassandra Yap. Additional reporting by Emily Chow)