Explosions at Egypt's Damietta Port; Drone Suspected to Hit LNG Tankers

Explosions rocked Egypt’s Damietta Port on Wednesday in what security officials suspect was a drone strike on liquefied-natural-gas infrastructure, the Jerusalem Post reported. A drone reportedly hit the floating storage tanker Energos Winter, igniting a fire that spread to a second vessel, the Gaslog Salem, according to three trading sources familiar with the incident.

What we know

Egyptian security officials are treating the blasts as a suspected drone attack, per the Jerusalem Post. Energos Winter is a floating storage and regasification unit stationed off Damietta, one of Egypt’s principal LNG import points on the Mediterranean coast. Gaslog Salem is a separate LNG carrier that trading sources say caught fire after the initial hit.

Three trading sources briefed on the incident described a fire spreading from the Energos Winter to the Gaslog Salem, the Post reported. Neither the Egyptian government nor the vessels’ operators had issued formal statements confirming casualties, damage extent, or attribution at the time of publication.

Damietta sits on Egypt’s north coast and handles both LNG imports feeding the domestic grid and re-export cargoes. Any prolonged disruption at the terminal would tighten an already strained regional gas balance.

What we don’t know

No party has claimed responsibility. Attribution remains open — Egyptian authorities have not publicly named a suspect group, and there is no confirmation yet that the drone was launched from inside Egypt, from a maritime platform, or from a neighboring state. The scale of damage to both vessels, whether crews were injured, and whether the terminal itself sustained damage are still developing. This story is developing.

Context

The Damietta strike lands in the middle of a widening drone-and-tanker campaign against energy infrastructure across the region. Houthi-claimed drone salvos have repeatedly hit Saudi crude and export infrastructure this month, including Aramco’s Abqaiq processing complex and tankers in the Red Sea, pushing Brent near $100 a barrel last week.

A confirmed drone strike on an FSRU in the Eastern Mediterranean would extend that campaign well beyond the Red Sea and Gulf theaters and introduce a new pressure point on European gas markets, which have leaned on Egyptian re-exports during past Russian-supply squeezes.

What to watch

1. Formal statement from Egypt’s petroleum ministry, the Damietta port authority, or Energos Winter/Gaslog Salem operators confirming damage and casualties.
2. Any claim of responsibility — or denial — from Houthi leadership, Iran-aligned militias, or other actors.
3. TTF and Brent futures response as European traders price in the risk to Egyptian LNG throughput.