A fire involving two gas vessels at Damietta Port was brought under control on Wednesday, 29 July, with no injuries or fatalities reported, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The ministry said the fire affected a regasification vessel and a gas storage vessel at the Mediterranean port. Emergency response procedures were activated immediately, with firefighting and security teams working alongside the relevant authorities to contain the blaze.
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi travelled to the site to oversee the response and ensure that the necessary safety procedures were being followed, the ministry added.
Emergency and technical teams were continuing their work and assessing the consequences of the incident. The ministry’s statement did not specify the cause of the fire. It also urged media outlets and social media users to rely on official statements for further information.
Separately, Reuters reported that British maritime-security company Ambrey assessed that a drone had struck a gas storage vessel at the port. However, these reports remain unconfirmed by Egyptian authorities. Egypt has not confirmed that a drone was involved, no official in Egypt has confirmed such an assessment, and the cause of the fire has not been officially established. No party has been officially identified as responsible, and the petroleum ministry has not announced the outcome of any investigation into the cause of the fire.
United States President Donald Trump was questioned by reporters about the incident at the White House on Wednesday and said he had been briefed, describing the situation as “a little more of the same” without elaborating or publicly identifying a responsible party, nor confirming or denying whether it was an attack.
Trump separately threatened a forceful response against Iran following an attack on United States military facilities in Jordan.
Damietta is home to one of Egypt’s two liquefied natural gas plants, with the other located in Idku. Since 2025, the port has also served as an important location for floating storage and regasification vessels as Egypt increased LNG imports to reinforce domestic gas supplies, particularly during the summer period when electricity consumption rises.
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