Egypt said Thursday that a drone hit two ships at its Mediterranean port of Damietta, as attacks on energy infrastructure widen across the Middle East.
Cairo said an initial investigation found that a drone attack Wednesday caused a fire onboard the ships, according to the state owned Middle East News Agency. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The fires broke out on a regasification ship and a storage vessel, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
Damietta is the site of a liquefied natural gas hub. The Energos Winter floating storage and regasification unit and the GasLog Salem LNG tanker were damaged, according to the trade intelligence firm Kpler.
“The situation was immediately dealt with in accordance with the approved emergency and rapid response plans through the coordinated efforts of the competent authorities and the on-site firefighting and safety teams,” the ministry said in a statement.
The unclaimed attack comes as Iran, its Houthi allies in Yemen and Iraqi militias have widened strikes on energy infrastructure across the region. Crude oil futures were trading slightly lower Thursday despite the escalation.
The strike in Egypt demonstrates that energy infrastructure near the Suez Canal also faces security threats, as the Houthis try to control traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
The Houthis declared a maritime embargo of Saudi Arabia last week, jeopardizing the kingdom’s energy exports through the Red Sea.
The Saudis can redirect some oil through a pipeline that stretches across Egypt. But Riyadh would have to unload some oil at the pipeline and then retrieve the cargo on the Mediterranean Coast because the Suez Canal is too shallow for fully loaded supertankers.
The U.S., meanwhile, launched a renewed wave of strikes against Iran on overnight, in retaliation for an attempted surprise missile attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on American forces in the Middle East.
The Houthis claimed Monday that they targeted pipeline infrastructure in Saudi Arabia that transports oil to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The pipeline has played a key role in moving Saudi oil exports to market as Iran disrupts the Strait of Hormuz with attacks on tankers.
Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry had earlier confirmed the fire without identifying the cause. Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi travelled to the port to oversee the response.
The drone struck the Energos Winter, a Marshall Islands-flagged floating storage and regasification unit owned by US company New Fortress Energy, on its starboard side at approximately 3:20 pm CET, according to maritime security firm Ambrey and British firm Vanguard.
The fire spread to the nearby Bermuda-flagged LNG tanker Gaslog Salem. Both crews were evacuated. The fire was brought under control and no injuries were reported. Both vessels were subsequently moved offshore for assessment.
Tehran touts map of targets
Egyptian authorities and multiple maritime sources confirmed that Iranian state television had identified Damietta as a possible target for “retaliation against Ukrainian interests” two days earlier, following a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend.
The map shown on state-run TV described Damietta as “a gateway for gas exports to Europe.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Iran “does not seek escalation” but was demanding “compensation” from Kyiv.
Energy analytics firm Kpler said the attack disrupted operations at the terminal and forced both vessels to move offshore.
Former head of the Damietta Port Authority, Major General Ayman Salah, said that the regasification process occurs at very high pressure and that any leak could cause a fire.
The incident comes as the region enters one of its most volatile periods since the war began.
On Wednesday, the IRGC launched ballistic missiles at US forces in Jordan, the US and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-linked militia sites across Iraq, and Yemen’s Houthi group declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia, raising fears of the widest simultaneous regional escalation since the war began on 28 February.
Egypt has so far been spared from attacks during the US-Iran war, maintaining relations with both Washington and Tehran.
Egypt’s Suez Canal, through which roughly 12% of global trade normally passes, has already seen a dramatic drop in traffic since the war began.
It is now further imperilled by the reported plans by Yemen’s Houthi group to impose a toll on passing cargo ships and threats of strikes on noncompliant vessels, which could severely reduce the traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea.
Egypt had previously been an LNG exporter — Damietta hosted one of the Arabic-speaking world’s first LNG export terminals — but declining domestic gas production turned the country into a net importer.
Iran-allied militias in Iraq, meanwhile, launched drones at oil infrastructure in Saudi’s Riyadh and Eastern regions this week. U.S. and Saudi warplanes carried out joint strikes Tuesday against Iraqi militias in retaliation.
“The situation was handled immediately in accordance with emergency and rapid response plans,” the ministry said on Wednesday.
The Egyptian Cabinet, in a statement on Thursday morning, confirmed that a drone had caused the fire on board the two vessels.
“After the fire that affected two vessels at Damietta Port on July 29, 2026, was brought under control, preliminary investigations by the relevant authorities found that the incident was caused by a drone,” the cabinet said in a statement.
The authorities will continue to investigate to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and take the measures necessary “to protect Egypt’s interests and national security,” the statement said.
It added that no party had claimed responsibility for the incident.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned on Thursday of the “danger of regional escalation” following the attack.
Iran also moved on Thursday to distance itself from the attack, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi calling Egypt “an important friend”, whose “security is of utmost importance to us”, and warning of Israeli “false-flag operations”.
Yemen’s pro-Iranian Houthi rebels have also denied any link to the incident, after suspicion fell on the Iran-backed group.
A drone caused the fire that engulfed two gas vessels at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta, the Egyptian cabinet said on Thursday, confirming that the blaze which erupted a day earlier was the result of an attack rather than an accident.
It is the first time that Egypt was directly impacted by the Iran war.
No party has claimed responsibility, and authorities were continuing their investigations while taking necessary measures to protect Egypt’s national security, the cabinet added.
Meanwhile, The New York Times, citing “two Iranians who asked not to be named”, said the drone attack was meant “to show that global shipping and energy supplies could be more deeply disrupted if Iran chose to escalate”.
The sources did not elaborate on who exactly launched the attack and from where.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was briefed on the drone attack while implying Tehran was responsible for it. He described the strike as “more of the same” saying the was “going to be hitting them very hard, because it’s our turn to hit them.”
British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday that a drone had hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at the port, in an initial assessment that raised concerns about a further spread of conflict across the Middle East.
Three trading sources familiar with the incident said the drone hit floating storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to another vessel, Gaslog Salem.
The Energos Winter was reportedly struck by an unidentified projectile on its starboard side, causing a fire that was extinguished, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said.
Through a video posted on social media, Reuters was able to verify the location by the port infrastructure, the storage tanks and ship tracking data that matched the archive and satellite imagery.
The Energos Winter is a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with storage capacity of 138,250 cubic metres. It is owned by US-based firm Energos Infrastructure. Its technical, safety and commercial operations are managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Norwegian company Wilhelmsen Group.
Egypt’s petroleum ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the fires at Damietta port were dealt with immediately by firefighting and security teams and caused no injuries or fatalities. Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi went to the site to oversee response efforts, it said.
Iranian Guards in Iraq killed
The Damietta incident occurred shortly after Iran carried out a missile attack against US forces in Jordan, and Washington and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq.
Trump had previously threatened to retaliate against Iran and Yemen’s Houthi group after they declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia hence spreading the conflict to its widest since the US and Israel started bombing Iran in February.
The US military said on Thursday it struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including military command centres and drone facilities, in a two-hour operation launched after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East.
The operation began at 0000 GMT and ended at 0200 GMT on Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
“The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighbouring Gulf countries,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Iran’s state media reported that three people were killed in US strikes on Qeshm Island.
Jordan’s armed forces said on Thursday that they had thwarted an Iranian attempt to target the kingdom, intercepting five missiles.
The US strikes came after Iran confirmed on Wednesday that it had fired ballistic missiles at US troops in Jordan. CENTCOM said all of the missiles were intercepted. US bases in Jordan have lately become primary Iranian targets.
Earlier on Wednesday, US and Saudi forces launched strikes against Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq, in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets launched from Iraq.
The joint attack marked the first time Riyadh has publicly joined strikes alongside Washington.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, Iran-backed paramilitary groups incorporated into the Iraqi security forces, said at least 20 members were killed and 32 wounded in US-Saudi strikes targeting several bases across Iraq.
The Iraqi presidency denounced the strikes on the Iran-backed militia groups as “an unacceptable attack and a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”, while also calling for a halt to attacks by armed groups against Iraq’s neighbours.
Though Iran denies its forces have directed strikes from Iraqi territory, Iranian newspaper Hamshahri reported that four of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards advisers had been killed in the strikes on Iraq.
After the joint attacks, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister met Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Wednesday to urge the Trump administration not to escalate the conflict further by attacking Yemen’s Houthis and carrying out more strikes against Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, two sources told Reuters.
One of the sources added that such escalation would open the door to “major unknown risks.”
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy on Thursday condemned a drone attack targeting two ships at Egypt’s Port of Damietta, describing it as an unacceptable act of aggression against Egypt and warning against further escalation in the region.
Fahmy cautioned against “desperate attempts to escalate the regional conflict.”
He also warned against what he described as “ill-advised adventures” by certain parties, stressing that attacks on Arab countries were “unacceptable across the board.”
The comments came after the Egyptian cabinet on Thursday confirmed a drone caused the fire that engulfed two gas vessels at the port, adding that the blaze which erupted a day earlier was the result of an attack rather than an accident.
Kuwait also condemned the attack, with Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah expressing the country’s “full solidarity” with Egypt during a telephone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
According to Kuwait’s foreign ministry, Al-Sabah condemned the drone strike, which caused a fire aboard two ships at Damietta port, and reaffirmed Kuwait’s support for all measures taken by Egypt to safeguard its sovereignty and maintain its security.
Egypt’s Prime Minister’s Office has released a statement confirming that two liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels were subject to attack by a drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), at the Egyptian port of Damietta.
“After controlling the fire that affected two ships in Damietta port on 29 July 2026, and after the concerned authorities conducted the initial investigations into the incident, it became clear that it was caused by a drone. No party has claimed responsibility for the incident, and the authorities concerned are continuing to complete the investigations to determine the circumstances of the incident and to take the necessary measures to preserve Egypt’s interests and national security,” the Prime Minister’s Office, part of The Cabinet of Egypt, said.
The port, on the Mediterranean, is a strategic hub for the liquefaction and export of LNG and houses an LNG plant along with a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) terminal.
Multiple maritime security agencies initially reported on and named the vessels involved on 29 July, with reports indicating all crew on board both vessels were safe and accounted for.
The FSRU and LNG carrier have both reportedly been moved outside the port, with crews and fire services fighting fires on board the vessels. Multiple sources reported the fire to have begun during cargo discharge operations between the LNG carrier and FSRU.
Greece-based Marisks said Egyptian authorities “responded rapidly, bringing the incident under control and relocating the affected vessels outside the port”, citing multiple industry sources and international news agency Reuters in naming the FSRU involved as US-owned Energos Winter, “with the fire spreading to a second vessel”.
UK-based Vanguard Tech said the second vessel involved in the reported attack was the Greek-owned LNG carrier Gaslog Salem. Vanguard indicated that both vessels had been struck by an unidentified projectile, with Gaslog Salem reportedly struck on the starboard side near the “No 2 forward cargo tanks”.
UK-based Ambrey indicated the fires were connected, and said “at least one UAV” was involved.
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources confirmed “a fire broke out on the regasification vessel and the storage vessel located at Damietta Port”.
“The situation was immediately dealt with in accordance with the approved emergency and rapid response plans through the coordinated efforts of the competent authorities and the on-site firefighting and safety teams. Upon receiving the report, Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, immediately headed to the incident site to monitor the situation on the ground, oversee the containment and securing operations, and ensure the implementation of all safety measures and full coordination among the relevant authorities,” the ministry said.
Marisks said “the incident represents a significant escalation as it marks the first reported attack affecting Egypt’s Mediterranean LNG export infrastructure since the current regional conflict intensified”.
“At present, there is no confirmed attribution for the incident. While reports indicate a possible drone strike, no state, state-like (Houthis) or non-state actor has claimed responsibility, and Egyptian authorities have not released an official determination regarding the cause,” Marisks analysis said.
Marisks indicated disruption to LNG export operations at Damietta port would be temporary, and cited port authorities in stating that operations at unaffected berths and terminals would resume overnight (29-30 July) while the LNG terminal remains under assessment.
Story synopsis gathered from: multiple sources
