U.S., Russia Scoot to Outflank Every Other on Russian Pipeline

For the previous yr, U.S. officials and Russia hawks on Capitol Hill include closely watched the peregrinations of a Russian ship, because it sailed from Russia’s A long way East spherical Africa to the Baltic Sea.

The vessel—a virtually 500-foot pipe-layer named the Akademik Cherskiy—is the only real Russian-owned ship able to polishing off an $11 billion pipeline. Nord Circulation 2 is designed to raise natural gas under the Baltic from Russia to Germany, however its constructing has been stalled for a yr by the specter of U.S. sanctions.

As…