A drone hit a US-owned liquefied natural gas storage tanker in the Egyptian port city of Damietta, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing the British maritime security firm Ambrey.
The incident could signal a widening of the US-Iran war, though at this point it’s unclear who was responsible. Sources told Reuters that the drone hit the storage tanker Energos Winter, owned by the US-based firm Energos Infrastructure.
The drone sparked a fire that spread to a second LNG storage vessel, the Gaslog Salem. Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry confirmed there was a fire at the port, though it didn’t say what caused it.
The ministry said that the “situation was dealt with immediately in accordance with the emergency plans and the approved rapid response plans, through the relevant authorities and firefighting and safety teams at the site” and added that there were no injuries.
The incident comes as the US may be on the verge of conducting strikes against Iran following an Iranian missile attack on Jordan, and after the US and Saudi Arabia launched major attacks on Iraq, marking a major escalation in the region.
The US and Saudi Arabia launched the attacks over claims that Iraqi Shia militias targeted Saudi oil infrastructure, though Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, took credit for the strikes and have also been targeting Saudi tankers as part of their enforcement of a new maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia.
