An unloaded liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is sailing through the Red Sea, enroute to go past Yemen and the Gulf of Aden, and set to be the second vessel of its kind to take the passage so far this year.

LNG tankers have largely avoided taking the Red Sea route after Yemen-based Houthi militants began attacking vessels since November 2023 in support of Gaza Palestinian militants fighting Israel.

But the Liberian flagged Trader III vessel journeyed through the Suez Canal on February 14 and is approaching the Bab al-Mandab Strait on Tuesday, shiptracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

It is only the second vessel to sail the route since June 2024, after the Salalah LNG vessel delivered a cargo from Qalhat, Oman to Turkey’s Marmara Erglisi LNG terminal on February 14.

Last June, the Asya Energy vessel sailed through the Red Sea in the same week that Houthi militants sank their second vessel.

The Suez Canal links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, creating the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, and is connected to the Gulf of Aden by the Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and Djibouti.

The destination for Trader III is not specified by both Kpler and LSEG data. The tanker had last loaded a cargo at Brazil’s Sergipe for delivery to Izmir, Turkey, on January 29.