The Asya Energy
vessel passed by Yemen through the Bab al-Mandab Strait on June 18,
shiptracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed, the same week as a second
ship believed to have been hit
by Yemen's Houthi militants sunk.
"Asya Energy
is the first LNG tanker to sail through the Bab el Mandeb strait since January
this year when LNG voyages through the Red Sea were suspended amid repeated
rocket attacks," said LSEG analyst Olumide Ajayi, adding that data showed
that the ship is carrying cargo.
Most LNG tankers
have avoided taking this route after Houthis launched repeated drone and
missile strikes in the Red Sea region. They describe their attacks, which have
since expanded to other busy waterways, as acts of solidarity with Palestinians
in Israel's war in Gaza.
The Red Sea is
linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal, creating the shortest shipping
route between Europe and Asia, and is connected to the Gulf of Aden by the
Bab-el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and Djibouti.
Palau-flagged Asya
Energy is heading for Gibraltar, according to Kpler data. It previously called
at the Sohar port in Oman, LSEG data showed. It was not immediately clear who
is chartering the ship.
Nur Global Shipping
manages the ship which is owned by Lule One Services, data on Equasis showed.
Nur Global Shipping
did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted on
LinkedIn.
Reuters could not
find contact information for Lule One Services.
The Asya Energy
vessel may soon become the first vessel to sail through the Red Sea passage
since January 12, 2024 after waiting around the coast of Oman
since mid-January, said Ana Subasic, natural gas and LNG analyst at data and
analytics firm Kpler.
"At present,
AIS (automatic identification system) signal feed to our platform shows the
ballast vessel has set a course towards the Gibraltar checkpoint - although I
would take this with a grain of salt, it is too early to be making an accurate
prediction," she said.
"We are
keeping a very close eye on it and waiting for more ad-hoc raw signals or
market sources to feed in."
Leading industry
groups have called for urgent action to be taken in the Red Sea to
stop attacks on merchant shipping by Houthis.
The UK-owned
Rubymar was the first ship sunk by the Houthis. It went down on March 02, about two weeks after being struck by
missiles.
