**Egypt’s Cabinet** confirmed Thursday that a drone caused a fire that broke out on two vessels at the Mediterranean port of Damietta a day earlier, according to a statement carried by the state-run Middle East News Agency. 

“After controlling the fire that two ships were subjected to in Damietta Port on July 29, 2026, and following up on the preliminary investigations into the incident by the relevant authorities, it has been revealed that it was caused by a drone,” the Cabinet said. No party has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the statement did not identify who operated the drone or whether the vessels were its intended targets.

**Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources** said the fires broke out on a regasification vessel and a storage vessel. “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. No casualties were reported, and both vessels were subsequently moved offshore for damage assessment.

**Trade intelligence firm Kpler** identified the two vessels as the Energos Winter, a floating storage and regasification unit, and the GasLog Salem, an LNG tanker, both of which were damaged in the incident. The Energos Winter is owned by U.S.-based Energos Infrastructure, with technical and safety operations managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, also a U.S. company.

**British maritime security firm Ambrey** said crew members were evacuated from the vessels and that the fire was brought under control. **Maritime shipping service Inchcape** separately confirmed a blast had occurred at the LNG terminal and said port operations were expected to resume at other berths overnight.

According to reporting by **Euronews**, Egyptian authorities and multiple maritime sources said Iranian state television had identified Damietta two days earlier as a possible target for retaliation against Ukrainian interests, following a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend. The state broadcast reportedly described Damietta as “a gateway for gas exports to Europe.” **Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi** said Tuesday that Iran “does not seek escalation” but was demanding compensation from Kyiv.

**US President Donald Trump**, when asked about the incident by reporters, said he had been briefed and described the situation as “a little more of the same,” without identifying a responsible party or confirming whether it was a targeted attack.

The incident came as **CNBC** reported that attacks on energy infrastructure have widened across the Middle East, with Iran, Houthi forces in Yemen and Iraqi militias all expanding strikes in the region in recent days. According to **Al Jazeera**, the Damietta fire occurred hours before the U.S. military resumed strikes on Iran following a five-night pause.

The decision comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. For a detailed timeline of the conflict and its broader geopolitical impact, read our Iran-US War: How It Started, Where It Stands Now, and What It Means for the World.

Damietta hosts one of Egypt’s two liquefied natural gas facilities, alongside a second plant at Idku, and has historically served as a key gas export point to European markets. Egypt, once an LNG exporter, has in recent years become a net gas importer due to declining domestic production, making terminals like Damietta central to the country’s energy supply.

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