Drone Strike Hits US-Owned Gas Storage Tanker at Egypt’s Damietta Port, Raising Regional Tensions

A drone struck a U.S.-owned floating gas storage tanker at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta on Wednesday, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, in an incident that threatens to widen the ripple effects of ongoing conflict across the Middle East.

Citing an initial assessment, Ambrey reported that the unmanned aerial vehicle targeted the Energos Winter, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a capacity of 138,250 cubic meters. The impact ignited a fire aboard the vessel, which then spread to a second gas carrier, the Gaslog Salem, moored nearby, according to three trading sources familiar with the incident. Two separate security sources corroborated that the likely cause of the blast was a drone strike, though they stressed that formal confirmation is still pending.

Egypt’s petroleum ministry issued a statement acknowledging a fire at the port but made no mention of a drone attack, instead describing the blaze as breaking out on a gasification vessel and a storage vessel. The ministry said emergency response plans were immediately activated, with firefighting and security teams swiftly bringing the situation under control. Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi personally visited the site to oversee response efforts, and the ministry confirmed that no injuries or fatalities were reported. Emergency and technical crews remain on-site to continue monitoring the aftermath and assess the full impact of the incident.

Port services firm Inchcape separately reported that two gas tankers had caught fire at Damietta, without specifying the cause.

The Energos Winter is owned by U.S.-based Energos Infrastructure, while its technical, safety, and commercial operations are managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, also a U.S. company. The vessel plays a critical role in Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure, serving as a key node for regasification and storage at the port.

As of Wednesday evening, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack. However, security analysts warn that if confirmed as a deliberate strike, the incident would mark a significant escalation, signaling that maritime energy infrastructure in the eastern Mediterranean could become a new front in the region’s widening conflicts. The attack comes amid heightened tensions involving Iran-backed proxies, ongoing hostilities in Gaza, and repeated Houthi drone and missile campaigns against shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The Egyptian government has not indicated whether it will seek international assistance in investigating the incident, nor has it commented on potential retaliatory measures. The port of Damietta remains operational, though authorities have yet to announce whether LNG shipments or port activities will be disrupted in the coming days.

The incident underscores growing vulnerabilities for energy infrastructure along North Africa’s Mediterranean coast and raises fresh concerns among global shipping and insurance markets about the safety of vital maritime routes beyond the Red Sea basin.

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