The Fitburg vessel seized by authorities in the port of Kantvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland, January 4, 2026. Markku Ulander/Lehtikuva via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
By Kati Pohjanpalo
Jan 12, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Finland lifted the seizure of a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea last month.
The Fitburg vessel is leaving Finnish waters on Monday, after criminal investigative measures by the Finnish and Estonian police reached a stage where the ship no longer needs to be held, according to an emailed statement.
The incident happened on New Year’s Eve, when telecommunications operator Elisa Oyj detected a fault in a cable between Helsinki and Tallinn. Finnish authorities took control of the vessel and brought it to port on the south coast. Traffic from damaged cable was automatically rerouted and the incident had no impact on Elisa’s services.
In the aftermath of the Kremlin’s full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, there’s been a rash of incidents damaging undersea telecommunications cables, power connections and gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which is bordered by Russia and eight members of the NATO defense bloc. Many have involved ships dragging their anchors on the seabed.
Some experts working in the region have implicated Russia, which employs a large shadow fleet of ships to transport sanctioned oil. Still, national authorities haven’t publicly disclosed whether they’ve found the damage to be sabotage or negligence.
A crew member was on Sunday remanded in custody pending a trial, and some of the ship’s crew remain under a travel ban, the police said.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.
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