Norway seizes Russia's Svalbard liner
The Governor of Svalbard has confirmed the seizure of the Professor Molchanov, a Russian passenger vessel that has been sailing between Murmansk and Barentsburg for a second consecutive season.
Norwegian authorities have seized the Russian vessel Professor Molchanov at the port of Barentsburg in Svalbard. The arrest is made after the request of Naftogaz Group, the company said.
Naftogaz Group is Ukraine’s state-owned energy group, centred on the National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine. It is one of the country’s largest energy companies and plays a central role in Ukraine’s energy security.
The company said the seizure is part of global efforts to enforce an arbitral award secured by Naftogaz and other Group companies against the Russian Federation.
The Nord-Troms and Senja District Court ordered the seizure on 31 August 2026 to secure enforcement of the Russian Federation’s outstanding obligations under the award, which amount to approximately $4.22 billion, plus interest and costs.
The arbitral award had previously been recognised as enforceable in Norway, according to a statement from the Naftogaz Group.
The Norwegian court ruling follows a decision by a Dutch court in late 2024 confirming the enforceability of the arbitration award issued in The Hague, which awarded Naftogaz Group compensation for assets seized by Russia in 2014 in temporarily occupied Crimea.
The company said it thanks the Norwegian authorities "for their assistance in holding the Russian Federation accountable" through the enforcement of the international arbitral award.
Russian media have widely reported the seizure of the Professor Molchanov on Wednesday evening. Neither the authorities in Moscow nor Svalbard-based Arktikugol has so far commented on the case.
Crew and passengers are safe
"The Governor of Svalbard, acting as the enforcement authority, seized the vessel on Wednesday, 2 September, following an order from the Nord-Troms District Court," the Governor said in a statement in the evening.
"It has been decided that the vessel will remain berthed in Barentsburg until the Governor or the Nord-Troms District Court decides otherwise," the Governor said.
The Governor, who has police authority at Svalbard, assures that it will take responsibility for the crew and passengers on board in cooperation with Arktikugol.
First Svalbard voyage in 2025
The Professor Molchanov - an oceanographic research vessel originally built in Finland 43 years ago - has previously sailed with students and researchers from the Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU) in Arkhangelsk. She made her first voyage to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg in June 2025.
The Professor Molchanov is operated by the Northern Directorate for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, an agency under Roshydromet, Russia’s state meteorological service.
The ship has made several voyages between Murmansk and Barentsburg this season, carrying various groups of passengers.
As previously reported by the Barents Observer, the plan was for the vessel to make ten return trips in cooperation with Arktikugol, the Russian state-owned company that operates Moscow’s businesses on Svalbard.
Until the vessel began sailing directly from Murmansk last year, Russian citizens travelling to Svalbard had to fly via Tromsø or Oslo. This required a valid Schengen visa and passage through Norwegian passport control. After Norway stopped issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens, only those affiliated with Arktikugol were able to obtain visas to transit through mainland Norway.
Svalbard is outside the Schengen area, and citizens of all countries that are party to the Svalbard Treaty have the right to enter the archipelago. For passengers arriving on expedition cruise ships, the only requirement is that the shipping company submits a passenger list 48 hours before docking. The Governor of Svalbard then carries out identity checks upon arrival.
