Fitburg captain and boatswain charged with sabotage in Finland
In Helsinki, Finland, the Russian captain of the Fitburg cargo ship and an Azerbaijani boatswain have been charged with aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with telecommunications. Both sailors deny guilt, YLE News reports.
Damage to cables in the Gulf of Finland
According to the investigation, Fitburg is suspected of damaging two telecommunications cables in Estonia’s economic zone between Helsinki and Tallinn. Some of the damage is also alleged to have occurred in Finland’s territorial waters.
Investigators believe that the vessel dragged a damaged anchor along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland for at least 130 kilometers before it was stopped by Finnish authorities. At the time of the incident, the cargo ship was traveling from Russia to Israel. The sailors are also accused of attempting to damage another eight underwater communications links.
According to the prosecution, the vessel’s actions posed a serious threat to the operation of Finland’s telecommunications, electricity and gas networks. Fitburg is a 132-meter cargo ship flying the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Its crew consists of 14 citizens of Russia, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
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Question of court jurisdiction
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation completed its investigation in early June. Initially, four sailors were suspected in the case, but charges have so far been brought against only two. Prosecutors will decide later whether to bring charges against two other suspected members of the vessel’s command staff.
The defense intends to argue that the Helsinki District Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case, while the prosecution holds the opposite position. Henrik Ringbom, a professor of maritime law at Åbo Akademi University, believes that a Finnish court has jurisdiction if the consequences of the alleged crime were sufficiently serious for Finland.
The issue of jurisdiction has already been considered in the case of Eagle S, which was suspected of damaging five subsea cables in the Gulf of Finland at the end of 2024. Last October, the district court said it could not hear the charges because the damage had not occurred on Finnish territory. In August, the court of appeal returned the case for consideration, recognizing Finland’s jurisdiction.
