Captains describe frantic fight to avert port disaster after drone hit two gas vessels

A drone strike on Wednesday set ablaze the Energos Winter floating storage and regasification unit and the GasLog Salem LNG tanker docked side by side at Damietta’s Mediterranean port. Captains recalled hearing two explosions, the second larger, and feared the vessels could act as a bomb that would devastate the port and endanger the 300,000-resident city. Firefighters deployed four tugboats to isolate and tow the ships away from critical infrastructure, extinguishing the tanker’s fire within two hours while the larger unit burned until about 8 p.m. Egyptian security officials have recovered drone fragments but have not identified the attacker, and Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly ordered the vessels moved as a precaution. The incident marks the first drone attack on Egyptian soil since the regional conflict began, prompting Cairo to stress it will not be drawn into the wider war.