Russia requires the immediate release of vessel seized by Norway

Russian Far Eastern and Arctic Development Minister Alexey Chekunkov stated that Russian lawyers have already begun to prepare a lawsuit against Norway due to the seizure of a Russian ship in Spitsbergen, according to Russian agency TASS.

“I can confirm that lawsuits have been initiated. The lawyers of the company [Arktikugol] and Russian lawyers, in coordination with the Russian embassy in Norway, are preparing to contest this illegal detention in a local court. I would point out that this is based on a complaint by the Ukrainian private company Naftogaz,” said the Russian minister quoted by TASS.

On Wednesday, the governor of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago about 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole, had announced the seizure of the ship “Professor Molchanov”, in accordance with a decision given on 31 August by the Norwegian court.

“Professor Molchanov”, 72 metres long and 13 metres wide, which the Norwegian authorities had prohibited from approaching Barentsburg, a mining town operated by Russia in Svalbard, is used by the Russian Federation for “commercial expeditions”, according to the Norwegian news agency NTB.

According to NTB, the seizure of the ship “is part of a global initiative to ensure that the Russian Federation fulfils its outstanding obligations”, estimated at USD 4.22 billion (about EUR 3.63 billion), plus interest and costs, after the expropriations suffered by Naftogaz with the illegal Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

In 2023, an arbitration tribunal based in The Hague gave the Ukrainian group a gain of cause, which was subsequently recognised as enforceable in Norway.

The Russian embassy in Oslo denounced “a violation of international law with political motivation” and announced that it would appeal the decision.

Due to the sanctions imposed by Norway after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Professor Molchanov is, according to the Russian embassy, the only way to supply Russian facilities in Svalbard.

In this NATO territory, Russia exploits a coal mine in the village of Barentsburg, where some 350 Russian and Ukrainian Russian people live, as well as another smaller place called Pyramiden.

For its part, Oslo points out that the rights guaranteed by the Treaty of Svalbard do not exempt citizens or companies from the countries which are signatories to compliance with Norwegian laws and regulations.

The Treaty of Svalbard, signed in Paris in 1920, recognises Norway’s sovereignty over the archipelago and territorial waters and the text has the particularity of granting nationals of all Contracting Parties the right to exploit natural resources “on conditions of perfect equality”.

The treaty also prohibits the construction of any kind of military fortification or military base, as well as the use of the islands for military purposes.