CTV News has obtained documents that allege three crew members of the Halifax-based HMCS Charlottetown were improperly storing classified information.

Court documents state that the apparent security breach was discovered in February during a routine search of a Department of National Defence computer network.

The scan discovered that 196 protected files had been burned onto three CDs. A CD was seized from the communications control room of the ship.

Three crew members refused to speak to an investigating officer.

It is not clear whether charges have been laid.

It is also unclear what was contained on the files, as they are listed as protected and classified.

The Department of Defence would not comment.

Earlier this year, military police in Halifax alleged that a web designer working at a Navy security operation was found to have improperly stored more than 1,000 secret documents. The commander of maritime forces found no malice and decided against charges.

In 2012, Halifax naval intelligence officer Jeffrey Delisle was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to selling Russia top-secret information. Delisle had access to information shared by the “Five Eyes”: Canada, the U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl