Damietta is on Egypt's northern (Mediterranean) coast, on the east side, north by north east of Cairo, at the mouth of the Nile.
There is no way to get a shot with a drone except by boat to the north.
Posted on 07/29/2026 11:33:31 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan
An explosion hit a liquefied natural gas terminal at Egypt's Damietta Port on Wednesday evening during cargo discharge operations, with maritime security officials suspecting an unmanned aerial vehicle attack. Maritime security firm Ambrey reported that a drone struck the American owned, Marshall Islands flagged floating storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that subsequently spread to a second vessel, Gaslog Salem. Shipping agent Inchcape Shipping Services stated that affected vessels were moved outside the port area while emergency crews contained the flames, allowing other berths to resume operations.
The incident follows a target map published by Iranian state television identifying Damietta Port as a potential site for retaliatory action against European energy supply lines. Iranian state media labeled the facility as "Damietta LNG: 5.2 million tons annual capacity, export gateway to Europe" following recent Ukrainian strikes on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously indicated that Iran did not seek escalation but demanded compensation from Ukraine over the Caspian incident.
Egyptian officials presented a contrasting account, with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum stating that a fire broke out in an engine room and was handled immediately under standard emergency procedures. "Emergency teams are working with relevant authorities to complete required procedures and assess consequences," the Ministry of Petroleum stated, urging media outlets to rely strictly on official statements. Officials confirmed no casualties were reported among crew members.
The strikes in Egypt come amid heightened military actions across the broader Middle East. American and Saudi forces conducted joint strikes in Iraq targeting Iranian aligned militias, resulting in the deaths of several individuals, including Iranian Military advisers. In response, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq released a statement warning that "our response to the American enemy is inevitable, and it may target its agents in Saudi Arabia whenever circumstances justify it."
Simultaneously, President Donald Trump warned of direct military strikes against Iranian infrastructure following an overnight ballistic missile attack on an American base in Jordan. "We are going to hit Iran hard, we are going to dismantle them," Trump stated during an interview regarding the regional security situation.
According to statements provided by maritime security sources to REUTERS, commercial vessels operating in the region have been advised to maintain heightened security postures as investigators assess the cause of the Damietta terminal explosion.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
No way to tell. An "attack" scenario does make handy cover for incompetence.
The Iranian Shahed-136B easily reaches Damietta from Yemen...it has a 4,000km range.
Houthis.
Not so sure that it was not a drone. The Ukrainians are using drones to strike deep into Russia and possibly as far as Siberia. Suspect if the Iranians launch from areas their militias controlled areas in Syria/Iraq, they may have done it. The Iranians do seem to have a presence and good intelligence in the area. They knew exactly where to attack Americans in Jordan. Give the Chinese engineers credit. They have developed some very sophisticated and effective drones.
Wow! What a stupid phrase.
Found a better source confirming drone attack.
Posting shortly.
Slowly, but surely, the whole Middle East is up in flames. Are we in a world war? It’s getting dangerously close.
Hopefully, this and the threats to Melania and Barron will be the last straw for Trump, and he will bomb them into the stone age.
Looked up the range.
You are correct the Iranians claim a 4,000km range. Everyone else says its real range is 1,900 to 2,500km.
Regardless, western Iran or anywhere in Iraq would work.
Ironically, both you and I were probably wrong re: Houthis, as this is outside the range, at least on land.
There is a lot of speculation that this came from a civilian vessel in the Med, as Egypt and others have extremely good radar and it would have had to fly over a city (several cities, actually, notably outskirts of Cairo and the port itself) and was not spotted.
The attack on Egypt may be the last straw.
They’ve been out of the fight and really not involved, at all.
This was a major mistake and escalation.
The nation that gets the maritime tax money is not the nation that winds up protecting the ship.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a Ukrainian drone. St Z is desperate to start WW III.
Do realize st Z was proud to admit they blew up an Iranian oil tanker last week.
If the Ukranians can strike Egypt, I guess you guys in Russia need to surrender now. There’s no hope.
No way this came from Iran. It would have passed over multiple warning and anti-missile sites of both the U.S. and Israel.
I tend to agree.
Eqypt has excellent radar, as well.
It’s deeply curious.
I’m leaning heavily to a marine launch, either the Med or the Red Sea. The Houthis have attacked Eqypt from the Red Sea several times, using a boat to launch drones.
Gaza or Lebanon perhaps? Or sea launched or from Cyprus or Turkey - depends on the drone and distance. Iranian drones can hit Israel so one could fly over the sea and bank left to look like it came from the north.
https://lngprime.com/asia/egypt-says-no-one-injured-after-damietta-fsru-incident/194045/
Per the above, a fire broke out on board. Nobody injured.
Like the barge used to shoot at an airliner of the East Coast of the United States. Which was denied ever taking place.
An explosion? Time for our negotiators to extend the ceasefire and offer new incentives for the Iranians at the peace conference table./S
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.