Finnish Court Jails Cargo Ship Captain, Crew Member for Baltic Sea Cable Sabotage
A Finnish court on Thursday 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…
A Border Guard helicopter and a Coast Guard patrol ship Turva seize the Fitburg vessel suspected of a subsea cable breach in the Gulf of Finland on 31 December 2025, in this handout picture obtained on January 1, 2026. Finnish Police/Handout via REUTERS
HELSINKI, Nov 5 (Reuters) – A Finnish court on Thursday 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 last year.
Finland on December 31 seized the vessel in the Gulf of Finland while it was en route from Russia to Israel, on suspicion that it had damaged cables running from Helsinki to Estonia.
The Helsinki District Court sentenced the captain to 3 years and 6 months in prison and the crew member to 2 years and 10 months. It said in a statement the two acted intentionally when the ship dragged an anchor chain and anchor shank along the seabed for around 130 km (81 miles).
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