A cargo vessel severed an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, around 4:53 a.m. local time. Finnish police said they suspected this was an act of sabotage.
The cargo ship ‘Fitburg’ was en route from Saint Petersburg, Russia to the port in Haifa, Israel when it damaged an undersea cable connecting the capitals of Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. The vessel was sailing under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the time of the incident.
A Finnish Border Guard’s patrol vessel and the helicopter identified the Fitburg at 7:30 a.m. with it’s anchor chain in the ocean. Authorities landed on the Fitburg at 11:05 a.m., and the bridge was in control by 11:11 a.m. All 14 crew members were taken into police custody. The crew members are Russians, Georgians, Kazakhs, and Azerbaijanis.
The sabotage did not disrupt service, according to Elisa, the Finnish telecommunications company that operates the cable. In a statement, Elisa said that its network was designed to be secure with multiple routes, so services are not disrupted in the event a connection is interrupted.
Finnish authorities are investigating the incident as “aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated interference with telecommunications.”
Alar Karis, Estonia’s president, posted on social media, “The Estonian and Finnish authorities are working closely together to gather additional information.” The section of cable that was damaged was in Estonia’s “exclusive economic zone,” according to investigators, who said that the Fitburg was intercepted in Finnish waters with its anchor lowered into the sea. A tactical team with the Finnish Border Guard rappelled to the ship’s deck from helicopters before seizing the vessel and taking custody of its 14 crew members. The crew members were from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The Fitburg is operated by Albros Shipping and Trading Ltd., based in Istanbul.
Note that cables running between Sweden and Estonia have also been damaged in recent days.
Further reading:
NYT: Sabotage Suspected in Cutting of Undersea Cable, Finnish Police Say
HS (Finland): Tulli ja Traficom tarkastavat alusta – Venäjän suurlähetystö tarjoaa miehistölle apua