Fitburg anchor drag damages two Finland–Estonia telecom cables

On 31 December 2025, the anchor of the cargo ship Fitburg, which had left St Petersburg the day before, was dragged along the bed of the Gulf of Finland for about 130 km, crossing nine cables and a gas pipeline and damaging two telecom cables in Estonia's economic zone. On 5 November 2026 the Helsinki District Court convicted the Russian captain and the Azerbaijani boatswain of deliberate aggravated sabotage; the judgment is not final. The court did not find who, if anyone, directed them, and Russian state responsibility has not been established; the links to Russia are the port of departure, the court's finding that the anchor was lowered in Russian territorial waters, and the EU-sanctioned Russian steel in the hold.

Established by. Helsinki District Court (judgment R 706/2026/11841, 5 Nov 2026, not final): aggravated sabotage by the captain and boatswain, committed deliberately; Finnish jurisdiction. Finnish police and Estonian prosecutors (joint investigation, Jan–Jun 2026). Finnish Customs (1 and 7 Jan 2026): cargo of Russian structural steel under EU sanctions. No body has attributed the act to the Russian state.

Latest. On 5 Nov 2026, the Helsinki District Court sentenced the captain to 3 years 6 months and the boatswain to 2 years 10 months in prison and found them jointly liable for repair and investigation costs. The captain will appeal; the boatswain is considering an appeal.

Link to the war against Ukraine. Finnish Customs found the cargo was Russian structural steel covered by EU sectoral sanctions (1 Jan 2026). These are the sanctions the EU adopted against Russia over its war against Ukraine.