Damage to a cable in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel was carrying sanctioned goods to RF. Part of the crew is detained

The Fitburg, suspected of damaging the submarine cable between Finland and Estonia on December 31 in the Gulf of Finland, was carrying sanctioned goods to Russia. The vessel was detained by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, and some of the crew were arrested, transmits Yle.

Customs said it had completed inspections on the ship. The steel it was planning to deliver to Russia is subject to international sanctions and has been confiscated. And the Transport and Communications Agency conducted a technical inspection of the Fitburg, which revealed a dozen deficiencies.

At the same time, the Helsinki court ordered the arrest of an Azerbaijani citizen, one of the 14 crew members, transmits RMF 24. The other crew members are citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia. Three of them, including the Russian, are banned from leaving Finland for the duration of the investigation.

The Fitburg was sent to a port near Helsinki, where it remains at the disposal of investigators.

• on December 31, 2025, it became known that in the Gulf of Finland there was again damaged a telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia. Police detained the ship the same day.
• january 2, 2026 the crew questioned finnish police.
• Similar incidents have already occurred many times in 2024 and in 2025.