Egypt confirms drone attack on LNG vessels at Damietta Port

A drone struck the U.S.-owned floating storage and regasification unit Energos Winter at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta on Wednesday, igniting fires that spread to the nearby LNG tanker Gaslog Salem in what two Iranian officials described as a deliberate warning to the West over escalating regional tensions.

Egypt's Cabinet confirmed on Thursday that preliminary findings concluded a drone was responsible for the incident, though no group has claimed responsibility. Both crews were safely evacuated, firefighters brought the blaze under control, and no casualties were reported.trtworld+2

The Attack and Its Aftermath

The drone struck at approximately 14:20 GMT on Wednesday, hitting the Marshall Islands-flagged Energos Winter — a vessel with 138,250 cubic metres of storage capacity owned by U.S.-based Energos Infrastructure — on its starboard side. The resulting fire spread to the Bermuda-flagged Gaslog Salem before Egyptian harbor responders extinguished the flames from both land and sea.maritime-executive+1

Maritime security firm Ambrey identified the explosion as a drone attack, and Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↗ 1.63% verified the location through ship-tracking data matched against satellite imagery. Kpler, another maritime tracking firm, reported both vessels were subsequently moved away from the port.nytimes+1

The Damietta LNG terminal sits near the Suez Canal on Egypt's northern coast. The Maritime Executive noted that well-trained Egyptian harbor responders prevented what could have been a far greater disaster had the fire reached the terminal's infrastructure.maritime-executive

Iran's Warning and Trump's Response

Two Iranian officials told The New York Times that the attack was designed to demonstrate that global shipping and energy supplies could face deeper disruption if Tehran chose to escalate. They declined to say whether Iran or an allied militia carried out the operation.i24news+1

Three days before the strike, Iranian state television had identified Damietta as a potential target for retaliation following a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, displaying the port on a broadcast map titled "What Could Be the Targets of Iranian Revenge Against Ukraine?"ynetnews+1

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday that the United States would respond "very hard," telling reporters, "it's our turn to hit them," though he did not directly confirm Iranian responsibility.newscord

Widening Regional Conflict

The incident unfolded amid a broader escalation across the Middle East, with Iran launching missile strikes at U.S. forces in Jordan and Washington and Saudi Arabia targeting Iran-backed paramilitaries in Iraq. The Maritime Executive assessed that the attack represented "a deliberate attempt by the Iranian ring-masters of the Axis of Resistance to widen the war and drag other combatants into the fight."inkl+1

Oil prices surged past $90 a barrel following the strike. Analysts noted the relatively limited warhead damage on both ships suggested drones fired at extended range, possibly by Yemen's Houthi forces from over 1,250 miles away, though Hezbollah and Iraqi militia groups remained candidate perpetrators.maritime-executive+1