Drone hits US-linked gas tanker at Egyptian port
Drone attack on US-linked tanker heightens tensions in the Middle East (photo: Getty Images)
A drone struck a gas tanker owned by a US company at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta, Reuters reports.
What is known about the attack
British maritime security company Ambrey reported that a drone struck the tanker. Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum confirmed a fire at the port but did not mention a drone attack or identify the cause of the incident.
According to three sources familiar with shipping operations, the drone hit the floating storage unit Energos Winter, after which the fire spread to another vessel, Gaslog Salem. Two independent security sources assessed the likely cause of the explosion as a drone strike.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said that Energos Winter was hit by an unidentified projectile on the starboard side, causing a fire that was later extinguished.
It is currently unknown who was responsible for the incident, which occurred shortly after Iran's missile attack on US forces in Jordan and US and Saudi strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq.
President Trump threatened to respond to Iran, while Yemen's Houthi movement announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. According to the publication, the conflict is spreading more widely than at any point since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran in February.
What is Energos Winter
Energos Winter is a floating storage and regasification unit with a capacity of 138,250 cubic meters. The vessel is owned by the US company Energos Infrastructure, while technical, safety, and commercial operations are managed by another US company, Wilhelmsen Ship Management.
Overnight into Wednesday, Iran attacked one of the US bases in the Middle East with ballistic missiles. It was the first such launch since the two sides suspended strikes last week.
A day earlier, Trump spoke about the possibility of a positive outcome in negotiations with Tehran, while noting that Washington was also preparing a backup plan in case no agreement could be reached.
Earlier, he warned that if no agreement was reached, the United States would be forced to destroy Pickaxe Mountain, which houses a nuclear facility inside.
Whether the new attack signals a return to a large-scale confrontation between the United States and Iran is examined in RBC-Ukraine's detailed analysis.
