A livestock export licence has been granted to the Australian subsidiary of the Kuwaiti company closely linked to the controversial shipper Emanuel Exports.

The federal government decision involving Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading will allow the second shipment to the Middle East following the Emanuel sheep scandal.

Mike Gordon, the general manager of KLTT subsidiary Rural Export and Trading WA, said that two ships, the Al Shuwaikh and the Al Messilah, would be stocked at least 17.5% below the rate set by the federal government.

“The two-to-three week procurement and pre-export process will now commence, with approximately 130,000 sheep to be sourced from WA producers and prepared for export from Fremantle to the Arabian Gulf,” Gordon said on Thursday.

RETWA will supply to markets including Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

It comes after the vessel Maysora, which is operated by Livestock Shipping Services, completed a voyage to Israel and Jordan last week, discharging 20,000 sheep and 8,000 cattle.

Footage of the deaths of about 2,400 sheep in extreme heat on board the Emanuel Exports-chartered Awassi Express broadcast in April sparked a furore that halted Australian shipments to the Middle East and brought regulatory changes, including on stocking density.

The WA Farmers president, Tony York, said RETWA’s shipment should inject confidence into the industry.

“KLTT is one of Australia’s biggest sheep buyers, importing 1.28m sheep in 2017,” he said. “Now RETWA’s export licence has been granted, the live sheep trade can kick into full swing.”

But Animals Australia spokeswoman Lyn White said RETWA had been behind other high mortality voyages in the past.

“To replace one company suspended for high mortality heat stress shipments with another with a similar rap sheet is recycling at its worst,” she said.