Ship's crew sentenced for damaging telecom cables in Baltic Sea

The Helsinki District Court has sentenced the Russian captain and an Azerbaijani crew member of the cargo ship 'Fitburg' to prison on charges of aggravated vandalism for damaging two undersea telecommunication cables in the Gulf of Finland. The court has sentenced the captain to 3 years and 6 months, and the crew member to 2 years and 10 months of imprisonment.

According to the court's statement, the two individuals deliberately dragged the ship's anchor chain and anchor shank across the seabed for approximately 130 km, resulting in damage to the cables. In this context, the court has ordered both accused to jointly pay approximately €1.9 million in damages, while the captain has been ordered to pay an additional €85,000 separately.

According to a report by The Straits Times, the ship was seized by Finland on December 31. At the time, the vessel was traveling from Russia to Israel and was suspected of damaging cables stretching from Helsinki to Estonia. Operating under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the ship had departed from Russia's Saint Petersburg port. Investigators stated that there were 14 crew members from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan on board. The ship has now been released.

The accused have denied any wrongdoing and have challenged Finland's jurisdiction in this case. According to lawyers, the captain will appeal the verdict, while the crew member has not yet made a decision. Due to a travel ban, both accused remain in Finland.

Since 2022, several incidents affecting cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea have occurred, prompting Finland to increase the security of its seabed infrastructure. As part of these efforts, ship-boarding drills were also conducted in September.