The crew of a Norwegian fishing vessel had a frightening encounter with a Russian warship in the Barents Sea during a large naval exercise earlier this month. According to the skipper, the Russian vessel approached and fired warning shots to force them out of the area, despite the fact that they were within Norway’s exclusive economic zone.
In mid-September, Russia launched the “Ocean-24” naval exercise, a massive drill involving over 400 warships and 120 aircraft, marking the largest Russian military exercise in decades and including elements from China’s PLA Navy. Increased activity from the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet near the Aleutian Islands also led the US military to reinforce its presence on Shemya Island.
The Northern Fleet often conducts exercises in the Barents Sea, which can sometimes interfere with Norwegian fishing operations. For the Ocean-24 exercise, the Russian Navy established a live-fire exercise area in international waters of the Barents Sea. On September 12, a Russian destroyer commander decided to enforce the boundaries.
Source: Neill Rush / CC BY SA 3.0
Øystein Orten, co-owner of the 50-foot fishing vessel Ragnhild Kristine, recounted receiving a call from an unidentified warship while he and his crew were working. The message was clear:
“This is a Russian warship, you need to leave the area,” Orten recalled. Photos he provided showed the vessel’s pennant number 605, identifying it as the Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Levchenko.
Orten responded that they would not leave immediately, stating, “They didn’t have the right to banish us, and we had a line to follow.” Subsequently, the warship approached at full speed, coming within 200 meters, and fired what appeared to be a warning shot, which landed near the fishing vessel. In light of the situation, Orten reopened negotiations and agreed to move slightly to the west for about six hours.
Fortunately, this agreement did not affect his catch when he returned to pull in the line.
“I caught a lot of cod, and some haddock and halibut,” he told NRK.
Orten did not blame the Russian crew for trying to keep civilians out of a live-fire zone but criticized Norwegian authorities as “cowards” for permitting the Russian navy to conduct exercises in Norway’s EEZ. Under UNCLOS, Norway has sovereign authority over fishing and seabed rights in the EEZ, while navigation and military activities remain outside its control in international waters.
Norway’s coastal agency stated that it had issued safety warnings regarding the Russian exercise area in advance, including the location, and emphasized that it was the responsibility of commercial operators to adhere to these warnings. However, despite the advance notice for safety, such exercises frequently create tensions with Norway’s commercial fishermen, who risk losing access to prime fishing areas during these drills.
