Cable damage in Gulf of Finland: Ship sailing from Russia detained
Illustrative photo: A Finnish patrol vessel spotted the suspicious ship near the site of the incident (Getty Images)
Finland has detained the ship Fitburg, which was sailing from Russia, on suspicion of damaging an underwater telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland, according to the Finnish public broadcaster Yle and Reuters.
It is reported that the suspicious ship was spotted in Finland's exclusive economic zone by a border patrol vessel and helicopter.
In particular, the attention of the border guards was drawn to the anchor chain, which had been lowered into the water. The ship’s crew was ordered to raise the anchor and proceed to Finland’s territorial waters.
According to the ship-tracking service MarineTraffic, Fitburg is currently near the coast of the Porkkala Peninsula.
Ship was en route from Russia
At a press conference in Helsinki, the Finnish Border Guard reported that the vessel was traveling from Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Israel under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
"At the moment we suspect aggravated disruption of telecommunications and also aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage," said Helsinki Police Chief Jari Liukku.
Investigators determined that the ship’s 14 crew members are from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan — they have been detained by Finnish authorities.
Yle noted that Fitburg and its IMO number (a unique ship identifier) are not listed on official sanctions lists. However, in the Open Sanctions database, the vessel is marked as "of interest" due to its connections with the sanctioned Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
What preceded it
On Wednesday, December 31, damage to an underwater cable between Finland and Estonia was recorded in the Gulf of Finland. The telecommunications company Elisa reported that the incident did not affect service provision in either Finland or Estonia.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb responded to the incident, stating that Finnish authorities inspected the ship suspected of damaging the underwater cables.
Cable damage in the Gulf of Finland
A similar incident involving damage to underwater communication cables between Finland and Estonia occurred a year ago. Specifically, on December 25, 2024, Finland reported damage to an underwater power cable connecting it with Estonia in the Gulf of Finland.
