British maritime security firm Ambrey says a drone caused the explosion near US-owned tankers at Damietta port; no group has claimed responsibility and Egypt is investigating
Related TopicsA drone exploded near U.S.-owned gas tankers at Egypt’s Damietta port on Wednesday evening, causing an explosion at the liquefied natural gas facility, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey.Ambrey said the tankers involved were U.S.-owned and that the blast was caused by a drone strike. Earlier reports said two gas storage tankers had caught fire at the port.(Photo: GreenOak/shutterstock)No country or organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.An Egyptian security source told the Saudi-owned Al Hadath channel that a committee from Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry was investigating the circumstances of the incident.“Security forces are monitoring the incident,” the source said.Damietta port, located in the northern Nile Delta, was named by Iranian television only two days earlier as a possible target for retaliation against Ukrainian interests following an unusual Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea.Iranian television displayed Damietta on a map marking possible targets across the Middle East and beyond under the headline: “What could be the targets of Iran’s revenge against Ukraine?”The map also marked Israel’s Leviathan gas field and the El-Arish-Ashkelon pipeline. The Iranian broadcast warned that Tehran’s response could include European energy assets, including oil and gas fields and pipelines linked to Europe.There was no evidence linking Iran to Wednesday’s attack, and Iranian authorities had not claimed responsibility.Egyptian authorities had not released information on casualties, the extent of the damage or whether operations at the LNG facility had been disrupted.Comments
