The Melkart-3 is trawling near Svalbard

After being sanctioned by Norway, Murman Seafood does not have a licence to enter the 200-nautical mile zone outside the Norwegian coast line for fishing purposes. Originally, the Russian fishing company was included in EUs 17th sanction package for unusual navigation practices close to critical infrastructure and military exercises.

One of the company's trawlers, the Melkart-5, got special attention in the EU Council document, published 20 May 2025:

"In particular Melkart-5 showed highly unusual navigation practices in the immediate vicinity of a subsea cable in the Norwegian North Sea, crossing the cable multiple times, immediately before the cable was severely damaged," the document states.

Now, her sister ship continues trawling outside the west coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago.

According to Norwegian Coastal Chart Series' tracking, Melkart-3 sailed both East and West of the Bear Island and South-West of Spitsbergen over the last two weeks.

Territorial waters

According to Geir Hønneland, Senior Researcher at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the Norwegian sanctions does not include fishing in Svalbard's Fisheries Protection Zone.

"As Russia does not formally acknowledge Svalbard's Fisheries Protection Zone by law, it is not a standard procedure to give license to Russian vessels in this area", he initiates.

The Norwegian researcher refers to the fisheries agreement between Norway and Russia, that has lasted for fifty years. Following this agreement, the two parts only assign licenses to each others economical zones once a year. 

There are no provisions regarding Svalbard's 200-nautical mile Fisheries Protection Zone, as it is not a part Norway's economical zone.

Hønneland ensures that both Murman Seafood and Norebo, the second Russian company sanctioned, have legal rights to continue trawling outside of Svalbard's coast.

Although Russia does not acknowledge Svalbard's zone, Hønneland also describes that Russian vessels practically follow Norwegian regulations, as they agree to be inspected by the Norwegian Coast Guard regularly.

Change in fishing activity

Most of the fishing activities usually takes place outside of the Norwegian coast at this time of the year, according to Hønneland:

"Russian vessels primarily fish outside of Troms and Finnmark early in the year. During the spring, they sail northward and continue fishing in the waters outside of Svalbard."

He says that this context makes the sanctions imposed on Russia appear less severe:

"The decision not to grant fishing licenses to Norebo and Murmansk Seafood is therefore less dramatic than a scenario in which Russian vessels would be restricted to fishing solely within the Russian economic zone in the eastern part of the Barents Sea."

Earlier ownership

Sailing alongside Melkart-3 is another Russian fishing vessel. For the last two weeks, Kapitan Durachenko has sailed from the west coast of Norway to the coast of Svalbard. During the last ten years the vessel has shifted ownership several times. 

On Friday 9 January she docked at one of Tromsø's port facilities. 

"Kapitan Durachenko was here not long ago," the head of Tromsø port confirms before elborating:

"She was here for approximately one and a half days to bunker up with fuel and proviant."

The vessel has earlier been owned by Norebo, a fishing company that currently is banned from Norwegian port facilities.

When asked by the Barents Observer about its connection to Kapitan Durachanko, Norebo's press center makes clear that the vessel has nothing to do with the company:

In relation to the Kapitan Durachenko we can confirm that it is not owned, operated, or controlled by Norebo. It was sold to a separate and independent fishing company years ago.

The vessel was sold to Glow Arctic in 2016, according to them. The new owners are not sanctioned by Norway.

At least since 7 January, Kapitan Durachenko has sailed in the Norwegian economical zone. It left the zone approximately 12 January, according to the Norwegian Coastal Chart Series.

Fear of intelligence gathering

When asked about sailing in the Norwegian economical zone, Senior Researcher Geir Hønneland explain how the sanctions work.

"The Law of the Sea does not impose any restrictions on the right of passage through exclusive economic zones. Norway therefore cannot deny Russian vessels such passage", he emphasizes.

The sanctions applies when harvesting, not solely by sailing from one point to another.

Both Murman Seafood and Norebo were sanctioned because the Norwegians fear intelligence gathering in their waters.

The EU Council states that Melkart-5 has "repeatedly shown untypical behaviour inconsistent with its regular economic practices and fishing activities", while Norebo's shipping vessels "have been equipped with technology that may be used for espionage".

In January 2022, Melkart-5 repeatedly crossed Svalbard's subsea fiberoptic cable before it was damaged. Seven months later, a crew from the same vessel was fined by the police for lowering a small boat on the water setting off to Langfjorden in direction of Strømmen bridge outside Kirkenes. 

The bridge is close to military restricted area and considered critical infrastructure in Norway's border region to Russia.

Is it any reason to believe that Melkart-3 is operating in the same way?

"I assume that the EU can document their decision when sanctioning the two companies. However, I also assume that it doesn't apply to every vessel," Geir Hønneland answers.

In addition, 115 Russian vessels has recently been granted permission to fish in Norwegian economical zone for 2026, Fiskeribladet reports.

The Norwegian Fisheries Monitoring Center received 144 applications, and denied 29 of them access.

The Barents Observer have asked Murman Seafood for a comment but has not received an answer.