Norwegian authorities have seized the Russian research vessel Professor Molchanov (IMO: 8010348) at the request of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state energy company. Naftogaz announced on its website that the vessel had been detained in the port of Barentsburg on Svalbard, the Norwegian Arctic archipelago where Russia has maintained a presence for decades.
On Aug. 31, a Norwegian court ordered the arrest of the Professor Molchanov based on the fact that Russia owes Naftogaz $4.22 billion under an April 2023 ruling by an international arbitration court in The Hague.
“This is another important step toward restoring justice over Russia’s illegal seizure of Naftogaz assets in Crimea,” said Naftogaz head Serhiy Fedorenko. “Russia cannot escape responsibility simply by refusing to comply with an international arbitration award. We will continue searching for Russian assets around the world until the compensation awarded to Naftogaz and other companies in the Naftogaz Group is paid.”
Svalbard authorities confirmed the arrest of the Russian vessel, the Swedish outlet Aftenposten reported.
The seizure will be challenged, according to Russia’s minister for the development of the Far East and Arctic, Alexei Chekunkov.
“[This is] another example of legal nihilism and lawlessness by Western countries,” Chekunkov said. “We have already had 95 years of presence on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Since 1931, the Arktikugol trust has operated there. The Rosgidromet vessel Professor Molchanov was used to maintain communications with our enterprise. Yesterday, this vessel was detained by Norwegian authorities on a claim by Ukraine’s Naftogaz. I want to assure you that in the near future, the trust’s lawyers will provide the appropriate legal response. We will challenge this decision. There have already been such precedents.”
Rosgidromet is Russia’s federal weather and environmental monitoring agency.
The Russian state-controlled news agency TASS reported that Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Norway’s actions “piracy”:
“The West has legalized piracy, lifted the veil from it, unsheathing a relic not even of the Cold War — there was nothing like this during the Cold War — but a relic of what era? It’s like something from the Middle Ages. They’re literally making Jack Sparrow their symbol of modernity.”
The Professor Molchanov, part of Rosgidromet’s fleet, is used for scientific research, monitoring, and support for polar stations, as well as for commercial cruises and expeditions.
