Helsinki District Court sentenced the Fitburg's captain and boatswain to prison over the December 2025 damage to telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland. The judges found that the ship dragged its anchor for about 130 kilometres, damaging two cables and endangering other infrastructure. The unanimous judgment is not final; both defendants were ordered into custody.
The Helsinki District Court in Finland imposed prison sentences on the captain and boatswain of the cargo vessel Fitburg over damage to two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland.[1], [2]
The captain received three years and six months, and the boatswain two years and ten months. The case concerns events on 31 December 2025. The unanimous judgment is not final, and the court ordered both defendants into immediate custody.[1]
The judges found that an anchor chain and anchor component had dragged along the seabed for approximately 130 kilometres outside Finnish territorial waters. The vessel crossed nine telecommunications and power cables and a gas pipeline. Two cables were damaged, while the other seven and the pipeline were endangered. The court found the anchor's locking mechanism worked and that it had been raised when the ship left St. Petersburg the previous day.[1]
Prosecutors did not allege that the captain ordered the anchor lowered or that the boatswain lowered it himself. The court nevertheless concluded both must have known it was down. It found the boatswain helped continue the drag for around two hours after the authorities' first contact. The captain's overall responsibility for navigation and management justified his longer sentence. Finland's jurisdiction rested on the consequences of intentional offences occurring in Finland.[1]
