Egypt LNG Terminal Hit by Unidentified Drone Amid Ongoing Regional Conflict

The Damietta LNG terminal in Egypt's Mediterranean coast was the site of a major incident on July 29, when two ships were struck by an unidentified drone. The Energos Winter, a US-owned natural gas storage vessel, and the GasLog Salem, a Greek-owned LNG tanker, caught fire after being hit.

The fires were extinguished, and Egyptian authorities reported no casualties in the incident, which occurred at one of Egypt's main liquefied natural gas export hubs serving Europe. Several videos showed the aftermath of the attack, including thick smoke rising from the terminal and firefighters spraying water onto the vessels.

However, a video circulating on social media platforms like X and Telegram was found to be false. The footage, which shows a drone striking a ship's bridge, actually predates the Damietta incident by five days and is of a Ukrainian drone hitting a Russian-owned vessel in the Black Sea on July 24.

The incident comes amid an intensifying conflict involving Iran and Yemen's Houthis on one side, and the US and Israel on the other. Since the US-Israeli coalition began its war against Iran on February 28, there have been reports of disruptions to fuel shipments through the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.