A court in Helsinki has jailed the Russian captain and an Azerbaijani crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg for aggravated sabotage over damage to two subsea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland, gCaptain reported.
The Helsinki District Court found that both men acted intentionally when the ship dragged its anchor chain and anchor shank along the seabed for about 130 km, damaging two cables running from Helsinki to Estonia. The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged ship was sailing from St Petersburg in Russia to Israel at the time. Finland seized the vessel on 31 December 2025; it has since been released.
Sentences and damages
- Captain (Russian): 3 years and 6 months in prison.
- Crew member (Azerbaijani): 2 years and 10 months in prison.
- Damages: the two must jointly pay about €1.9 million ($2.1 million); the captain must pay a further €85,000 or so.
The verdict was announced on 5 November 2026. Both men deny wrongdoing and have challenged Finland’s jurisdiction; they have stayed in Finland under travel bans. The captain plans to appeal, while the crew member has not yet decided. The ship’s 14 crew were nationals of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
Why it matters
Subsea cables carry most of the world’s internet and data traffic. The case is a rare example of a ship’s officers being convicted over cable damage, and a reminder that masters and crews can face criminal liability for how a vessel’s anchor is handled.
Source: gCaptain, 5 November 2026. Photo: representative image of an anchor chain on the seabed, not the Fitburg.
