A Finnish court has sentenced the Russian captain of the cargo ship Fitburg to three years and six months in prison over damage to two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland. A senior crew member from Azerbaijan was sentenced to two years and 10 months.
The Helsinki District Court delivered its verdict on Thursday, November 5, 2026, finding both men guilty of aggravated criminal damage. The case relates to an incident on December 31, 2025, when the Fitburg allegedly dragged its anchor along the seabed, damaging telecommunications cables connecting Finland and Estonia.
The captain, Andrei Maksimenko, and the ship’s boatswain, Vusal Majidov, were both convicted and sentenced to unconditional prison terms. The court also ordered their immediate detention following the verdict.
The incident occurred in the Gulf of Finland as the Fitburg was travelling from St Petersburg, Russia, towards Haifa, Israel. The vessel sailed under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
According to prosecutors, the ship dragged its anchor along the seabed for approximately 130 kilometres, damaging two undersea telecommunications cables. The prosecution also accused the two men of attempting to damage eight other undersea connections.
The damaged infrastructure raised concerns because undersea cables carry essential telecommunications traffic between countries. Prosecutors argued that the incident also created a serious risk to Finland’s telecommunications, electricity and gas networks.
Both defendants denied criminal responsibility during the trial. Maksimenko said he did not know that the ship’s anchor was dragging along the seabed, while Majidov also disputed responsibility for the damage. Their defence teams challenged Finland’s legal authority to prosecute the case, arguing that some of the damage occurred outside Finnish territorial waters.
The Helsinki District Court, however, ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear the case and found the two men guilty. The verdict marks a significant development in Finland’s investigation into damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
The court found that the anchor had been lowered into the sea after the vessel left St Petersburg and before it sailed out of Russian territorial waters. It also concluded that the anchor’s locking mechanism was working properly. According to the court’s findings, the anchor chain and part of the anchor were dragged across the seabed for several hours. The incident damaged two telecommunications cables and put seven other telecommunications and electricity cables, as well as one gas pipeline, at risk.
However, the court rejected the separate charges of aggravated interference with telecommunications. Its decision to hear the case was also significant because the defence had questioned whether Finnish courts had jurisdiction over damage that occurred partly outside Finland’s territorial waters. The court ruled that Finland had the authority to deal with the case.
The verdict has been met with disappointment by the defence teams. Maksimenko’s lawyer, Olli Etelämäki, told Finnish broadcaster Yle that his client was unhappy with the outcome and intended to appeal to the Helsinki Court of Appeal. Majidov’s lawyer, Markku Salonen, said his client was also disappointed and was considering an appeal. The prosecution, meanwhile, said it was satisfied with the outcome but had not yet decided whether to challenge the dismissal of the telecommunications interference charges.
The case has drawn attention to the security of undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Telecommunications cables and pipelines are important connections between countries, and damage to them can affect communications and other essential services. Finland has increased efforts to protect this infrastructure following several incidents involving cables and pipelines in the region since 2022.
