A Finnish court has convicted the captain and a crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg for damaging two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
A Finnish court on Thursday convicted the Russian captain and a senior crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg for damaging two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland last year. The Helsinki District Court found the two defendants guilty of "aggravated criminal damage," according to the AFP news agency.
The court issued the following sentences:
Both defendants were found guilty of aggravated sabotage, the court said. The defendants, who are subject to travel bans, denied any wrongdoing and have questioned Finland's jurisdiction in the case.
Finnish authorities seized the Fitburg on December 31 in the Gulf of Finland. At the time of the seizure, the vessel and its 14-member crew were en route from the Russian city of St. Petersburg to the port of Haifa, Israel.
Finnish police stated at the time of the seizure that the ship had been dragging its anchor for hours when it was discovered. The vessel was seized on suspicion that it had damaged cables linking Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia.
The incident involving the Fitburg is one of several incidents of damaged infrastructure in the Baltic Sea since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Finland has stepped up efforts to protect its undersea infrastructure following a series of incidents involving cables and pipelines in the region. This includes a vessel-boarding drill that Finland conducted in September.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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