A Finnish court has sentenced two crew members of the cargo ship Fitburg to prison for deliberately damaging undersea telecommunications cables connecting Finland and Estonia, in a case that tests Finland’s authority to prosecute attacks on critical infrastructure outside its territorial waters.

The Helsinki District Court ruled Thursday, November 5, that Russian captain Andrei Maksimenko and Azerbaijani boatswain Vusal Majidov were guilty of aggravated criminal damage. Maksimenko received a three-and-a-half-year sentence, while Majidov was sentenced to two years and ten months.

The vessel dragged its anchor approximately 130 kilometers along the seabed on December 31, 2025, damaging two telecommunications cables operated by Elisa and Arelion Finland. The anchor chain also crossed seven other telecommunications and power cables and a natural gas pipeline, placing additional infrastructure at risk.

According to the court, the ship’s anchor was properly secured when it departed St. Petersburg the previous day, and its locking mechanism was functioning. The judges concluded that both defendants must have known the anchor was dragging. Finnish authorities eventually alerted the vessel, but the court found that the ship continued traveling with the anchor down for approximately two hours after the initial contact.

The defendants must jointly pay approximately €1.9 million in compensation for infrastructure damage and related costs. Both denied wrongdoing, and the judgment is not final. Maksimenko intends to appeal, according to Associated Press reporting.

The ruling also addresses a jurisdictional dispute. The damage occurred outside Finland’s territorial waters, within its exclusive economic zone. The court determined that Finnish criminal jurisdiction applied because the offenses were intentional and their consequences were felt in Finland.

The decision follows a series of Baltic Sea cable and pipeline incidents that have heightened concerns about the security of submarine infrastructure. In a related case involving the tanker Eagle S and damage reported in December 2024, Finnish courts have also grappled with jurisdiction over incidents beyond territorial waters.

The Fitburg convictions establish criminal responsibility at the district court level for an incident affecting cross-border communications infrastructure. Whether that finding withstands appeal remains unresolved.