Banned by EU, welcome in Kirkenes
Only few days after Vitalii Orlov’s company Norebo was put on EU’s sanctions list, two of his trawlers made port call in the Norwegian border town. “It is remarkable that Norway has not immediately followed suit and taken action against Norebo,” says Member of the Norwegian Parliament Alfred Bjørlo.
The Orion and the Shpitcbergen on May 28 sailed into the Norwegian fjord and made port call in the Kirkenes harbour. Both had set out from Murmansk early the same day.
The two trawlers are owned by the Norebo Group, the company that this month was included in the EU’s 17th sanctions package against Russia.
According to the EU Council, Norebo is involved in illegal intelligence activities against Norway and the EU. Also the company Murman Seafood was put on the sanctions list.
“The movement patterns [of the ships] have been linked […] to the Russian state-sponsored surveillance campaign that employs inter alia, civilian fishing trawlers, to conduct espionage missions directed against civilian and military infrastructure in the North and Baltic Sea,” the EU document reads.
Norebo itself strongly rebuffs the accusations. In a press release, it emphasises that it “has at all times acted according to the laws of the countries and waters it operated in.”
The Orion is a brand new trawler, that visited Kirkenes on its maiden voyage in late 2024. The Shpitcbergen is operated by Karat-1, a subsidiary company of Norebo. Both ships this week spent only a few hours in Kirkenes before they again set out at sea.
During their stay in the port, they loaded onboard fishing equipment. The Shpitcbergen also bunkered fresh water, the local port administration says to the Barents Observer.
Kirkenes is one of Norway’s three seaports where Russian fishing vessels are still allowed to make port calls.
According to local Port Director Terje Jørgensen, about half of the trawlers that now visit the local port belongs to either Norebo or Murman Seafood.
“Before 2019, we had 490 port calls per year. In 2024, we were down to 214. If the sanctions are adopted we will be left with only about 100,” he explained to the Barents Observer.
Jørgensen fears consequences will be dire for local ship agents.
The Barents Observer has reached out to Henriksen Shipping, the main ship agent in Kirkenes, but has not gotten a comment to this article.
Consequences for the Kirkenes Port notwithstanding, Member of the Norwegian Storting for the Liberal Party (Venstre) Alfred Bjørlo underlines that Norway now must take action against Norebo.
“It is remarkable that the Norwegian government has not immediately followed the EU and imposed sanctions on the company,” he says to the Barents Observer.
“Russia now has a war economy where the civilian and state sectors are fully intertwined,” he explains.
The Liberal Party has long called for a full closure of the remaining three seaports.
“Russian ships and shipping companies with connection to the intelligence services and sabotage activities have for a long time operated along the Norwegian coast under cover of being civilian operatives,” says the MP.
Bjørlo and the Liberal Party now request a follow-up from the Foreign Ministry.
In an official question, he asks Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide whether the EU sanctions will be implemented by Norway.
“The Liberal Party believes Norway must stand together with our allies in the EU and act together with them. We can not be a back door for Russian interests,” Bjørlo underlines in the request.
Foreign Minister Barth Eide will have to respond within the next few days.
When the Barents Observer earlier this week asked Deputy Foreign Minister Eivind Vad Petersson about the new sanctions, he refrained from answering direct questions about the future of Norebo and Murman Seafood in Norwegian ports.
“We are considering this now,” he said.
Vad Petersson underlined that Norway, like before, in general will implement EU’s 17th sanctions package. But he added that “national adaptions may be necessary.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Canada, U.S. and Finland form pact to build icebreakers for Arctic, CBC News
Russia: Brussels imposes sanctions on Murmansk fishery industry, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: U.S. regulator eyes Arctic shipping chokehold as key deadline approaches, Eye on the Arctic
