Finnish Court Jails Fitburg Captain and Bosun Over Baltic Cable Damage
The Helsinki District Court in Finland has found the captain and the boatswain of the cargo ship Fitburg guilty of aggravated sabotage over damage to two undersea telecom cables in the Gulf of Finland. The Gulf of Finland is the eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, lying between Finland, Estonia and Russia, and carries many cables and pipelines on its seabed.
The court sentenced the captain, a Russian national named in reports as Andrei Maksimenko, to three years and six months in prison. The boatswain, Azerbaijani national Vusal Majidov, received two years and ten months. Both were ordered to pay about 1.9 million euros together for the damage, and the captain must pay a further 85,000 euros.
According to the court, the ship dragged its anchor chain and shank along the seabed for about 130 km, and it ruled that this was done on purpose. Finnish authorities seized the Fitburg on 31 December 2025 while it was sailing from St Petersburg to Israel, and took it to the port of Kantvik. Investigators said its 14 crew came from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
Both men denied wrongdoing and questioned whether Finland had jurisdiction. Their lawyers said the captain will appeal, while the boatswain has not yet decided. The two remain in Finland under travel bans.
CrewMirror Takeaway
The case shows that Baltic states are now treating anchor-dragging incidents over subsea cables as serious crimes. Masters and deck crews in these waters should keep accurate records of anchor use, watch anchor status closely while under way and report any unusual incident to the authorities straight away, as individual seafarers can face criminal charges after such events.
