The Utrenneye field, part of the Arctic LNG 2 project, in the Gyda Peninsula on the Kara Sea in the Arctic circle, in November 2021.
Photographer: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images
The Indian Apartment Behind Russian Efforts to Break US Gas Sanctions
A network stretching from Dubai to China is involved in a multi-billion dollar effort to ship gas from Russia's Arctic LNG facility.
The crayon marks on the wall of the sparsely furnished apartment hint at it being a conventional family home. But the single sofa, pink plastic chair and child's bike obscure something else: a vital component in Russian efforts to circumvent US energy sanctions. And it’s sitting 90 miles southeast of the Indian city of Mumbai.
Since June the apartment has been the registered address of Ocean Speedstar Solutions. The Mumbai-incorporated company provides essential support to a Russian shadow fleet of tankers exporting liquefied natural gas from a flagship facility above the Arctic circle. On occasion, some of the vessels have disguised their location as they play a high-stakes version of hide-and-seek with US authorities.