Full story
Damietta drone sparks LNG fires
Egypt confirmed that a drone strike caused a fire on board two vessels at the Mediterranean port of Damietta on July 29, 2026, after the blaze was brought under control.
“a drone had caused the fire on board the two vessels”
Egypt’s oil ministry said no one was injured in the fires, and the Egyptian Cabinet said “no party had claimed responsibility” for the incident.
The BBC reported that the drone hit a US-owned floating storage and regasification vessel, Energos Winter, and sparked a blaze that spread to a Greek-owned LNG tanker, GasLog Salem.
The BBC added that tugboats were hosing down the ships with water and that the fires were extinguished, with Egyptian authorities reporting no casualties and saying the port was continuing to operate at full capacity on Thursday.
Competing accounts and named ships
While Egypt’s cabinet confirmed the drone cause, other reporting described earlier uncertainty, with the Gulf News saying the Ministry of Petroleum rejected reports of a drone strike and said the incident involved a fire aboard two vessels with no casualties recorded.
Gulf News also cited British maritime security firm Ambrey, which had reported that a US-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged floating LNG storage facility at Damietta had been struck by at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
The Maritime Executive identified the attacked ships as the Bermuda-flagged LNG carrier Gaslog Salem and the Marshall Islands-flagged FSRU Energos Winter, and said both impacts caused fires that local services extinguished with no casualties reported.
The Maritime Executive further said the vessels were moved off the quayside and that the location of the attack was “fortuitous,” because responders prevented what it described as a major disaster if the fire had spread to the terminal infrastructure alongside.
Regional escalation fears and next steps
Egypt’s cabinet said authorities would continue investigating the Damietta incident to determine the circumstances and take measures “to protect Egypt’s interests and national security,” after the fire affected two vessels at Damietta Port.
“to protect Egypt’s interests and national security”
The BBC framed the attack within a wider regional pattern, saying Iranian forces and Iranian-backed armed groups have carried out similar attacks on tankers in the Gulf and Red Sea as well as energy infrastructure in several Arab states.
CNBC reported that the Energos Winter floating storage and regasification unit and the GasLog Salem LNG tanker were damaged, and said the strike demonstrated that energy infrastructure near the Suez Canal faces security threats.
CNBC also reported that crude oil futures were trading slightly lower Thursday despite the escalation, while the incident added to concerns that disruptions could affect energy exports through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
