How Moscow Assembled a Shadow Fleet to Break US Gas Sanctions (1)

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 ...