Panamanian-flagged vessel Pratika had entered the terminal to load a shipment of crude but left after the attack, workers said.
New England depends on LNG and oil to fuel some power plants on the coldest days when most of the region's pipeline gas is used to heat homes and businesses.
Attacks on tankers in Gulf waters in recent years have come at times of heightened regional tensions.
The delay in Freeport LNG’s restart means less gas is available for Europe to import, causing prices there to spike around 21% so far this week.
Three maritime sources told Reuters that a drone was suspected to have attacked the oil tanker. An Israeli official said Iran was responsible for the attack, using a Shahed-136 drone, the type it has been supplying to Russia for use in Ukraine.
Unverified images on social media showed what appeared to be a single rupture on the side of an oil storage tank in the Russian region of Oryol, blackened by soot.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control last week imposed sanctions on the stranded tanker, Young Yong, for its part in an international oil smuggling network that Washington said supports Hezbollah and Iran’s Quds Force.
SOECHI Lines hopes to operate in a safer and more sustainable manner through the implementation of Kongsberg Digital's Vessel Insight system.
If the backlog is not cleared soon those ships may start looking for alternative ports outside Europe to offload their LNG cargo.
The total implied enterprise valuation of Energos is approximately $2 billion based on the JV transaction agreed to between New Fortress Energy and Apollo in early July.