Trump Pledges Response After US-Owned Tanker Burns in Port

Two natural gas tankers, one of them the US-owned Energos Winter, burned Wednesday after an apparent drone strike at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta. Flames lit up the port, which is not far from the Suez Canal, after explosions rocked the tankers, which were then moved away from the port, the New York Times reports. The second tanker is operated by Greece's GasLog. Three marine tracking companies reported the fires, and one of them attributed the explosion to a drone attack. That would signal the conflict spreading further across the Middle East, per Reuters. No casualties were immediately confirmed.

Iranian sources described the strike as a signal that global energy and shipping could be further disrupted if Tehran chooses to escalate, per the Times, without saying who launched it. President Trump told reporters at the White House that he'd been briefed and suggested Iran was responsible, pledging the US would "be hitting them very hard." Analysts said the damage is unlikely to seriously shake global gas markets; attacks and threats in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf have already driven shipping traffic sharply lower. The Energos Winter is a floating storage and regasification unit owned by Energos Infrastructure.