Explosions heard on LNG vessels at Egypt's Damietta Port; fire erupts
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Explosions heard on LNG vessels at Egypt's Damietta Port; fire erupts")
Egypt's Damietta Port Photograph: (X)
A drone reportedly struck a US-operated LNG vessel at Egypt's Damietta Port, triggering a fire. Egyptian authorities say there were no casualties and the blaze was contained.
Reports of an explosion emerged at Egypt's Damietta Port on Wednesday, July 29. A US-owned and operated Marshall Islands-flagged floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at Egyptian Damietta Port was hit by an explosion on Wednesday evening. The facility was struck by a drone, Ambrey, a maritime risk firm, reported, citing an initial assessment of the situation. But no further details were provided.
Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum confirmed that a fire broke out on the regasification and storage vessels, but avoided explicitly mentioning a drone attack. “The situation was dealt with immediately in accordance with the emergency plans … and firefighting and safety teams at the site,” The Egyptian Ministry said in a post on Facebook.
Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi highlighted that no casualties have been reported; according to the advisory, the authorities responded promptly, and the exploding vessels were moved away from the port. "The situation was handled immediately in accordance with emergency and rapid response plans," without mentioning the cause of the blaze.
The blast hit the Energos Winter, a Marshall Islands-flagged floating LNG storage and regasification unit with storage capacity of 138,250 cubic metres chartered by the US firm New Fortress Energy. It then spread to another vessel, Gaslog Salem, Reuters reported, citing three trading sources familiar with the incident. No parties have claimed responsibility for the attack.
This development comes in the backdrop of a US-Saudi joint operation that killed 20 Iraqi fighters and wounded 32 others across seven provinces early Wednesday morning. Subsequently, Jordan air defences reportedly intercepted five missiles launched from Iran, as Trump meets Netanyahu and Iran rejected Oman's proposal of joint management of the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump told Fox News, “We’ll be hitting them hard.”
