On Wednesday, July 29, an explosion occurred at a port located in the Mediterranean in Egypt. According to the preliminary assessment by the British maritime security company Ambrey, a drone struck a U.S.-owned natural gas storage tanker at the Damietta port along the Egyptian Mediterranean coast.
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum issued a statement confirming a fire at the port but did not mention a drone attack.
Inchcape, a London-based port service company, also stated in a release that an explosion occurred at the Damietta port near the mouth of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, causing two natural gas tankers to catch fire. The Suez Canal connects Europe with the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia’s major oil and gas port, Yanbu.
According to Reuters, three informed traders said a drone struck the floating storage tanker “Energos Winter,” sparking a fire that spread to another vessel named “Gaslog Salem.” Two security sources also indicated that upon evaluation, the explosion was likely caused by a drone attack, potentially signaling a further escalation of conflict in the Middle East region.
No party has claimed responsibility for the incident so far.
The “Energos Winter” is a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a storage capacity of 138,250 cubic meters, primarily used for storing and regasifying liquefied natural gas (LNG). The vessel is owned by Energos Infrastructure based in the United States, with its technical, safety, and commercial operations managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, also based in the U.S.
In its statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum mentioned that a regasification ship and a storage ship caught fire at the Damietta port, and firefighting and security teams promptly responded according to established emergency plans.
The statement reported that Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi had personally visited the scene to oversee response efforts. There were no casualties reported from the fire, and emergency and technical teams are continuing with post-incident clean-up and impact assessments.
If the drone attack is confirmed, it would be one of the first attacks on energy infrastructure since the U.S.-Iran conflict erupted five months ago, with the scope extending beyond the Persian Gulf and Red Sea regions directly to the Mediterranean.