Norwegian authorities have seized a Russian ship in the Arctic on behalf of a Ukrainian energy company.
Officials said the ship, the Professor Molchanov, was seized late Wednesday in Barentsburg, a coal mining settlement that Russia operates in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen under the terms of a 1920 treaty.
Russia called the ship’s arrest an act of piracy and said it had called on the Norwegian ambassador to protest strongly. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it would work to secure the ship’s release.
“Amid the restrictive measures imposed by Norway against Russia on Svalbard – measures that violate international law – Russian organizations and citizens operating in the archipelago are effectively under a blockade,” the report said, accusing Norway of violating the treaty.
Norway said it would propose ways for crew members, passengers and others to travel home if they wish.
“We are in dialogue with the Barentsburg leadership and are ready to find ways to return people safely to Russia,” Svalbard Governor Lars Fause told broadcaster TV2.
Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz wants to enforce $4.22 billion (£3.27 billion) in damages for assets seized when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
The dispute over the ship itself is a matter between Naftogaz and Russia, in which the Oslo government is not involved, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice said.
The ship, the Professor Molchanov (photo), was seized late on Wednesday in Barentsburg
Naftogaz has been pursuing Russia since 2016 to demand compensation for the expropriation of its properties in Crimea. An arbitration court in The Hague ordered Russia in April 2023 to pay Naftogaz $4.22 billion plus interest and legal fees.
Russia has said it does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction in the case and that it will not pay.
“Russia cannot avoid its responsibility by simply refusing to comply with an international arbitral award,” said Sergii Fedorenko, acting CEO of Naftogaz.
Built in Finland in 1982, the 71-meter Professor Molchanov can carry 32 crew members and 52 passengers and has a library, sauna, bar and two restaurants, according to the Cruisemapper website. It is used for scientific expeditions and commercial cruises.
The ship arrived in Barentsburg on Tuesday with a group of Russian scientists, according to a journalist accompanying them, who did not say how many people were on board.
Andrei Gorbunov, editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) radio, said the ship docked without incident and the expedition members went ashore. It was only on Wednesday evening that news arrived that the ship had been seized.
‘No one has been arrested. We are all going about our business as usual,” Gorbunov wrote on the KP website. “For the time being, Professor Molchanov is simply prohibited from leaving the port of Barentsburg.”
Clovis Trevino, a partner at the U.S. law firm Covington, which represents Naftogaz, said she expected Russia would challenge the arrest in court.
“So we still have to win a legal battle to be able to auction the ship and get the money for our customers, which is the ultimate goal,” she told Reuters.
Ms Trevino said Covington and his Norwegian counterpart Wikborg Rein had been watching the ship for months. Its likely value is only a small part of the total amount owed to Naftogaz, which it now estimates is around $6 billion, including fees and interest.
Smoke rises after a Russian drone attack in central Kiev, Wednesday, September 2, 2026
But she called the seizure a “very meaningful victory.”
The seizure was ordered on Monday by a district court that obliged the governor of Spitsbergen to ensure that the ship was not moved.
“Russia may demand that the court reassess the case,” the Norwegian Justice Ministry said.
Naftogaz said it would continue to pursue Russian assets around the world until compensation is paid. It listed several jurisdictions, including the US, France, Britain and Finland, where Russian assets have been frozen. Russia is appealing, saying it received no notice.
Spitsbergen, a Norwegian territory since 1925, is located halfway between the North Pole and mainland Europe and is covered by a 1920 treaty that also allows nationals of signatory states, including Russia, to settle there without a visa.
Barentsburg is one of two Russian settlements on Spitsbergen which, according to Norwegian statistics, has a total of 392 inhabitants out of a total population of 2,914.
