The situation in the Middle East has reached a new critical point after a drone struck a US liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker. The incident occurred during cargo handling at the Egyptian port of Damietta. The attack was confirmed by British maritime security company Ambrey. This is the first time since the beginning of the conflict that Egypt has been directly targeted by such a strike.
Timeline of the attack in the port of Damietta
According to initial reports published by the international news agency Reuters (reuters.com), the drone hit the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Energos Winter. The ship is owned by the American company Energos Infrastructure. As a result of the detonation, a fire broke out on the starboard side of the vessel. The flames quickly spread and engulfed a second gas tanker – Gaslog Salem.
The port company Inchcape (inchcape.com) reported that the evacuation of the crews was carried out immediately. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum issued an official statement, distributed by Al Jazeera television (aljazeera.com). Cairo confirmed the incident and specified that the fire was completely controlled without casualties or injuries. Egyptian Energy Minister Karim Badawi personally arrived at the scene to lead a technical assessment of the damage.
Trump promised a crushing response to the US
So far, no organization has officially claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the incident coincided with a sharp escalation along the Washington-Tehran axis. Hours earlier, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at US bases in Jordan, and the US and Saudi Arabia had retaliated with strikes on pro-Iranian groups in Iraq. Yemen's Houthis also declared a complete naval blockade of Saudi Arabia.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News (foxnews.com) that he was fully aware of the situation. Trump threatened a crushing military response against Iran. "This is another provocation and it's our turn to act. We're going to hit them very hard," the US head of state said.
Shock in energy markets and oil price surge
The escalation caused immediate panic in international markets. Data from the economic portal Investing (investing.com) shows that the price of Brent crude oil has jumped by more than 8%. The crude oil has again exceeded the threshold of $90 per barrel. Analysts warn that the transformation of the Mediterranean Sea into a war zone could paralyze supplies of liquefied gas to Europe before the winter season.