Bergen district court is to start a probe into certain related-party deals carried out by OSV owner Oceanteam.
The company said it will appeal the decision to press ahead with an investigation following a petition by shareholders last September.
The court will appoint an investigator and Oceanteam will pay a deposit of NOK 3m ($0.38m) towards costs by Friday.
Oceanteam has previously said it believes there are no legal grounds for the probe and that the court's ruling is incorrect.
It has not provided further details.
More time to move
This week, the company was granted more time to find a new auditor as it fights to avoid potential liquidation action by a Norwegian regulator.
The country's Register of Business Enterprises (RBE) has given the company until 15 April to find an accountant.
If not, the RBS will notify the district court, which could result in a "compulsory liquidation", it added.
Oceanteam has already proposed a merger with its Dutch subsidiary so that it can re-domicile to the Netherlands and avoid court action.
The issue arose after a row with previous auditor KPMG.
KPMG quit in November after Oceanteam suspended its services due to what it said was its "investigative findings regarding audit costs that were charged for work not performed."
The auditor has not commented.
The company sealed a restructuring agreement last May with holders of its $92.5m five-year bond which included repayment in full.
The maturity date has been extended from October this year to 2 May, 2022, with the interest cut from Libor plus 11.25 to 7%.
It also managed to ease covenant restrictions as part of its refinancing.
