Fitburg

The patrol vessel Turva and coastal patrol vessels escorted the 'Fitburg' out of Finnish territorial waters on the morning Jan 12, after the ship was given permission to leave Finland following the completion of the necessary measures for the criminal investigation by the police, and the replacement crew had arrived on board the vessel. T The 'Turva' had also carried out and coordinated the underwater investigation in the Gulf of Finland under the leadership of the Finnish National Criminal Police. The Navy's mine-hunting vessel 'Katanpää' and authorities from Estonia also participated in the investigations. The 'Turva' located and documented the drag line caused by the 'Fitburg's anchor along a distance of tens of kilometres. “The Gulf of Finland Maritime Guard Section worked efficiently during the incident and located the suspected target vessel quickly. Through this work, further damage to critical underwater infrastructure was prevented. The seizure of the vessel was carried out as an inter-agency cooperation under the leadership of the police. The readiness of the Finnish authorities for smooth cooperation is particularly effective. With continuous readiness and cooperation, we can respond to today's challenges,” said the Commander of the Gulf of Finland Maritime Guard Section, Commodore Mikko Simola. The Gulf of Finland Maritime Guard Section continues to enhance monitoring of risky vessel traffic and preparedness for risks in the Gulf of Finland in close cooperation with the Finnish authorities and international partners. Report with photo: https://raja.fi/sv/-/gransbevakningsvasendet-eskorterade-fitburg-fartyget-fran-finland

The Finnish police has released the 'Fitburg' on Jan 12, which had been seized on suspicion of sabotage, after Elisa's submarine cable between Helsinki and Tallinn was damaged on New Year's Eve. There were 14 crew members from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan on board at that time. The Finnish and Estonian police have completed their work on board and therefore the seizure could be lifted. The ship has since left the port of Kantvik in Kirkkonummi at 11 a.m. and resumed its voyage from the Russian port of St. Petersburg to Haifa with an ETA as of Feb 1. The Border Guard monitored the ship's departure. One of the crew members was still in custody awaiting a trial. The District Court increased his suspicion level on Jan 11. He was now a probable suspect, while he was previously a reasonable suspect. Three of the ship's other crew members were still banned from leaving Finland. Last week, the Customs had decided not to open a criminal investigation into the ship. The 'Fitburg' was transporting sanctioned steel products, but did not commit a sanction violation, as the sanctioned goods were brought into Finnish waters at the request of the authorities. An investigation into multiple criminal offenses was still ongoing.

The Central Criminal Police has seized the 'Fitburg' in Kantvik in Kirkkonummi, after Customs dropped its suspicions of sanctions violations. The seizure came into effect on Jan 7 at 8 a.m to secure the preliminary investigations after Customs, which had previously detained the ship, announced that they would not initiate a criminal investigation. The seizure was necessary at this stage, as the police was conducting a technical examination on board the ship for preliminary investigation purposes and questioning the crew. The Finnish and Estonian Central Criminal Police have set up a joint investigation team for the preliminary investigation. The cable breach was being investigated under the criminal categories of suspected serious damage, suspected attempted serious damage and suspected serious disruption of postal and telecommunications traffic. One person from the ship's crew has been detained on suspicion of a crime and three people have been banned from travelling.The Inkoo Shipping, which owns Kantvik Shipping and operates in the port of Kantvik, may be forced to unload ships in Ingå instead of in Kantvik if the 'Fitburg' remains longer in the port. Report with photos: https://yle.fi/a/7-10090963

On Jan 4, the Finnish authorities have found a more than ten-kilometer-long towpath on the seabed, towards the place where a telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia was damaged. The towpath was believed to originate from an anchor and an anchor chain from the 'Fitburg', which remained detained in Kantvik as of Jan 5, while the investigation of the Central Criminal Police was ongoing. The Helsinki City Court remanded a crew member from the 'Fitburg' in custody on suspicion of attempting to cause serious damage and deliberately disrupting telecommunications traffic. The investigations at sea have been carried out in cooperation between Finnish and Estonian authorities. On Jan 5,, Latvia reported another breach of undersea infrastructure, this time an optical cable near the Latvian coastal city of Liepāja, that runs from Šventoji in Lithuania to Liepāja in Latvia.. The privately owned cable runs between Latvia and Lithuania.The Latvian authorities have boarded a ship which was suspected to have been linked to the incident. The police received assistance from the Latvian Coast Guard when they boarded the vessel. The Latvian authorities, whowever, found no evidence that the ship, which was berthed in the port of Liepāja, has sabotaged underwater cables and did not currently indicate any connection between the shipand the damage to the cable. The Latvian police inspected the shipincluding its anchor, as well as technical equipment and logs, and the crew had voluntarily cooperated. Arelion, the owner of the Latvia-Lithuania fiber link, said on Jan 5 that one of its cables linking Finland and Estonia was also damaged on Dec 31, and that a cable from Estonia to Sweden stopped working on Dec 30. All three cables were fully severed, and each case was under investigation. The first cable was expected to be restored within a few days, and the remaining cables within the next one to two weeks. Four ships have crossed the Lithuania-Latvia cable on their way to Liepaja port on Jan 2, when the latest incident occurred. Three of those ships remained in the port as of Jan 6. Reports with photo and video: https://yle.fi/a/7-10090738 https://www.msn.com/sv-se/nyheter/utrikes/f%C3%B6rbjuden-last-p%C3%A5-fartyg-som-misst%C3%A4nks-ha-kapat-kabel/ar-AA1ToR3e?apiversion=v2&domshim=1&noservercache=1&noservertelemetry=1&batchservertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1 https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/forbjuden-last-pa-misstankt-kabelfartyg

Finnish authorities have seized the 'Fitburg' off Porkkala on Dec 31, 2025, with 14 crew members on board, among them nationals of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.which was suspected of deliberately damaging a telecom cable between Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia. The 14 people on board have been arrested. The ship was en route from the Russian port of St. Petersburg to Haifa. The ship started manoeuvring at 05:53 a.m. UTC, a few hours after entering Finland’s exclusive economic zone. It subsequently drifted and then stopped. A pilot boarded the ' Fitburg' at 11:40 a.m., followed by the start of an operation involving the tug ' Ajax' at 11:57 a.m. A border patrol helicopter had observed the vessel sailing in the Finnish exclusive economic waters while anchoring. Telecom provider Elisa reported a cable malfunction on the morning. An investigation into the damage to the submarine infrastructure was launched under the supervision of the border police. The location of the cable damage is located within the Estonian exclusive economic zone. The authorities found the 'Fitburg' with its anchor chain appearing to have been lowered into the eater. The Border Guard ordered the vessel to stop and raise anchor. The Finnish authorities took control of the vessel. The Finnish police was investigating serious disruption of telecommunications, serious sabotage, and attempted serious sabotage. The Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated that his country was prepared for security challenges of all kinds, and that it would respond as necessary. The Prime Minister Petteri Orpo wass in contact with his Estonian counterpart, Kristen Michal. The authorities were working well together. Reports with photo and video: https://yle.fi/a/7-10090778 https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/GxGRVB/slapade-sitt-ankare-flera-kilometer

The Finnish police said on Jan 2 that they had made progress in a criminal investigation into the damage caused to an undersea telecommunications cable owned by operator Elisa, and arrested two crew members of the 'Fitburg'. The cable was currently inoperable, but the full extent of the damage will not be known for some time. The inspection of the ' Fitburg' began on Jan 1 at 4:55 p.m. and ended at 9:10. p.m. When the inspection began, the captain of the ship was informed of the detention of the cargo. Customs conducted a structural inspection of the ship and inspected the goods that were the ship's cargo. The inspection examined, among other things, the cargo holds and deck structures. Material has been collected, the analysis of which has begun. An investigation of the anchor on board has also been started and any damage to it was being investigated. The crew's interviews began immediately on the evening of Jan 31, and the actual interrogations bythe Central Criminal Police started on Jan 1. Two people have been arrested and two others have been banned from travelling. During the inspection, it was determined, based on the documents and inspection measures regarding the cargo, that the cargo was structural steel. According to the interpretation of Customs experts, the structural steel in question was subject to sectoral sanctions imposed by the EU. The import of such sanctioned goods into the EU area is prohibited based on EU sanctions regulations. Customs was continuing to investigate the course of events and the applicability of EU sanctions legislation to the situation. The goods were being detained by Customs after officials discovered sanctioned steel products on the ship. The authorities have not yet released further details regarding the origin or destination of the goods. In addition, Customs decided to initiate a preliminary investigation into the matter in order to initiate a preliminary investigation into a possible sanction offence. The preliminary investigation was to be carried out urgently and without delay. The Prosecutor General's Office has been informed of the initiation of the preliminary investigation. Customs was cooperating and gathering information on the matter with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Police and Border Guard, and, if necessary, other national and foreign authorities. Reports with photos: https://tulli.fi/-/tulli-fitburg-aluksen-lastina-pakotteiden-alaisia-terastuotteita?fbclid=IwT01FWAPEahBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR5rQ0JdFYALvE5qklMksRJcZehuNfJFrXQIjzNzfW9xTUxdn0bNxQnXKnBSRQ_aem_BOzL_5gdtjFzK6KKYx2bLA https://poliisi.fi/-/fitburg-alukseen-liittyva-tutkinta-jatkuu https://www.nordisch.info/finnland/finnischer-zoll-findet-sanktionierte-ware-auf-festgesetztem-schiff/

The 'Fitburg', en route from St. Petersburg to Rotterdam, loaded with steel products, suffered damage to its main engine turbocharger shortly after uts departure from St. Petersburg on Jan 24, 2020. The vessel was diverted to Tallinn where it arrived on Jan 28 at 11.40 a.m. On Feb 7 at 3 p.m. the repairs were completed, and the 'Fitburg' resumed the voyage to Rotterdam. On Feb 11 at 8.40 a.m. the ship dropped anchor off the port in pos. 57° 36.82' N 010° 41.40' E.