A drone hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday, citing an initial assessment of the incident.

The strike raised fears that the war with Iran, which has seen strikes across the region, could expand further. A statement from Egypt’s petroleum ministry confirmed a fire at the port but made no mention of a drone attack.

Port services firm Inchcape said in a separate message that two gas tankers had caught fire at Damietta.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.

Two security sources said the likely cause of the blast was assessed as a drone strike, in what could signal a further spread of the conflict.

The drone hit floating storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that then spread to another vessel, Gaslog Salem, three other sources familiar with the incident said.

Egypt’s petroleum ministry said in a statement a fire broke out on a gasification vessel and a storage vessel at Damietta port and was dealt with immediately under approved emergency response plans by firefighting and security teams.

A US owned LNG floating storage facility registered under the Marshall Islands flag was reportedly hit by at least one drone in Damietta, Egypt. pic.twitter.com/iOJljj9AYt Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner !=........

© The Times of Israel