2025 Elisa data cable incident
Baltic Sea submarine cable disruption
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On 31 December 2025 at 4:53 EET Finnish telecommuncation company Elisa noticed a disruption in a data cable connecting Finland and Estonia. Finnish police and coastguard approached the location in the Finnish exclusive economic zone and boarded the freighter Fitburg, which was found with its anchor lowered. The ship was traveling under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and was, according to marine traffic website, en route from Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Haifa, Israel. The crew was detained and the ship was brought to the Finnish port of Kantvik, where it arrived at 17:00 EET.[1][2] It was released on 12 January 2026. Four crewmembers had to stay in Finland while investigations continued.
Fitburg arrested in Kantvik harbour | |
| Date | 31 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Time | 4:53 (Eastern European Time) |
| Location | Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea |
| Type | Maritime incident |
| Cause | Under investigation; suspected sabotage |
| Arrests | 2 crew members |
| Suspects | 14 crew members detained, of which 2 arrested and 2 travel banned |
Incident
Finnish telecommuncation company Elisa noticed a problem with a cable by 4:53 EET. On the same day Finland's authorities were informed of disruptions in other telecommunications cables operated by telecommuncation company Arelion in Estonia's economic zone.[1]
Seizure
At 7.34., authorities determined that a vessel's anchor chain was in the sea and the vessel was moving. Coastguard vessel Turva and a helicopter approached the location in the Finnish exclusive economic zone and boarded the 132-metre freighter Fitburg.[3] 14 crew members were detained. The crew was composed of nationals from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The Finnish police did initially not comment on the nationality of the captain.[1]
Investigation
Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe told journalists on 31 December he had ordered Finlands National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to open a preliminary probe.[2] The offences under investigation were reported on 1 January 2026 as aggravated interference with telecommunications, aggravated criminal damage and attempted aggravated criminal damage.[4]
According to investigators, a Turkish company operated the Fitburg at the time of the incident. While searching the vessel, Finnish Customs officers found a load of Russian structural steel, a product sanctioned by the European Union.[5] Customs initiated a preliminary inquiry into potential sanctions violation.[6] On 1 January 2026 two crew members were arrested and two others were forbidden from leaving Finland. An underwater investigation of the site was also launched.[7]
By 7 January the customs prosecutors had decided to drop the case of sanction violations, stating that the Fitburg was brought into Finnish waters at the request of Finnish authorities and did not intentionally bring the sanctioned goods into Finland.[8][9]
Fitburg is registered under the flag of Caribbean island nation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The symbol of Nazi Germany's 9th U-boat Flotilla, a laughing sawfish, is painted to the ship's bridge for unclear reasons.[10]
On 2.1.2026, NBI announced that they had established a Joint Investigation Team with Estonia.[11]
An initial investigation of the seabed had been done by 4 January. According to police sources a drag track was found, indicating that an anchor had been pulled over the bed for tens of kilometers.[12]
On 12 January 2026 the investigations had reached a point where the Fitburg was allowed to leave Finland. From the 14 crew, four had to remain in Finland: one in custody, three restricted by a travel ban.[13][14]