Norwegian officials seized the Russian state-owned ship named "Professor Molchanov" on Wednesday at the port of Barentsburg in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
The authorities acted on an application from Ukraine's state energy company, Naftogaz, which is pursuing compensation for energy assets Russia expropriated when it illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
The seizure followed an order from the Norwegian Nord-Troms and Senja District Court issued on Monday.
Svalbard's governor, Lars Fause, whose office carried out the operation as the local enforcement authority, said the vessel may not leave its current location. Passengers who were aboard are being dealt with separately by Norwegian authorities.
At the time of writing, the Kremlin has not made a statement regarding the situation.
