Finland Jails Russian Captain And Bosun Over Baltic Cable Damage

A court in Helsinki has jailed the Russian captain and the Azerbaijani bosun of the cargo ship Fitburg for cutting undersea telecom cables in the Gulf of Finland, after the vessel dragged its anchor across the seabed on New Year’s Eve 2025.

The Helsinki District Court announced the verdict on Thursday, November 5, 2026, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

The captain received a prison term of 42 months, while the boatswain was handed 34 months.

Both crew members’ sentences are unconditional, and the court ordered the immediate detention of the two men, ending the travel bans that had kept them in Finland since the ship was seized on December 31, 2025. The vessel was on its way from Russia to Israel at the time.

According to the court, the ship’s anchor and chain trailed along the seabed for about 130 km over several hours, which severed two cables connecting Helsinki and Tallinn.

The judges ruled that neither man could have been unaware of the trailing anchor; however, prosecutors had not alleged that the captain gave an order to lower it.

Prosecutors had also sought a conviction for interfering with telecommunications, but the court dropped that count because the sabotage verdict already took in the same conduct.

The damage took place outside Finnish territorial waters, in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, which is why the defendants argued that Finland had no jurisdiction. In such a zone, the coastal state controls the resources, while other countries keep their right to sail through it.

The court rejected that argument, saying that the acts were intentional and had effects within Finland.

Finland has faced this question before. In the Eagle S tanker case, the district court first declined to hear the matter for lack of jurisdiction, and an appeals court later reversed that and returned the file to the lower court. The two men must also pay about 1.9 million euros jointly in damages, and the captain has to pay another 85,000 euros.

Both men denied any wrongdoing. The captain’s lawyer said that he would appeal, while the boatswain’s lawyer said that his client had not yet decided.

The ship had 14 crew members of four nationalities on board, and Finland released it in January.