Finnish prosecutors have brought charges against two crew members of the cargo ship Fitburg in connection with cable damage last New Year's Eve in the Gulf of Finland.
The accused include the vessel's Russian captain and an Azerbaijani bosun, who is a senior petty officer in charge of a ship's deck crew and rigging.
They are charged with aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with communications networks, offences that carry prison sentences ranging from two to ten years.
The Fitburg is suspected of damaging two telecommunications cables in Estonia's exclusive economic zone, with some of the damage also occurring in Finnish territorial waters.
The bosun was initially held in pre-trial detention but was released in March as the investigation progressed.
The vessel was operating under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
At the time of the incident, the Fitburg had a crew of 14. Finnish authorities took control of the ship after the incident on New Year's Eve in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel was en route from Russia to Israel.
The previous Christmas, in 2024, an oil tanker called Eagle S dragged its anchor along the seabed, damaging several undersea cables between Finland and Estonia. The captain of the vessel claimed the incident was accidental. Following a trial, Helsinki District Court said it lacked jurisdiction in the case.
