The Nord-Troms and Senja District Court issued the seizure order on August 31, 2026, targeting the vessel to satisfy an outstanding $4.22 billion arbitral award. This action follows a 2023 ruling from a tribunal in The Hague, which determined that Russia violated international treaty obligations by expropriating Naftogaz holdings in Crimea. The Ukrainian state-owned energy company has been monitoring the vessel’s movements for months, working alongside legal counsel at Covington & Burling LLP to identify and secure attachable state-owned assets.

The Professor Molchanov, a commercial expedition ship owned by the Russian Federation, is now effectively barred from leaving its current location. Local authorities, including the Governor of Svalbard, are tasked with preventing any unauthorized departure. Acting CEO Sergii Fedorenko confirmed that Naftogaz intends to continue hunting for Russian assets across global jurisdictions until the full compensation, including interest and legal costs, is recovered. This high-profile detention signals a shift toward aggressive enforcement of international arbitration awards against sovereign assets in neutral territories.