Russian captain denied cable damage despite anchor evidence

Russian captain Andrei Maksimenko continued to deny that the ship he commanded caused damage to two telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland, even after Finnish police showed him photographic evidence, according to Yle.

Charges were read in the Fitburg case at Helsinki District Court on Tuesday. Maksimenko and the ship’s boatswain are accused, among other offences, of aggravated criminal mischief.

Investigators say they found a 130-kilometre drag mark on the seabed extending towards Russian territorial waters. The Central Criminal Police said the mark matched the width and depth expected from the stock of Fitburg’s anchor and followed the ship’s route.

According to the investigation, the crown and flukes of Fitburg’s starboard bow anchor were already missing when the mark was created. Police also filmed the vessel and concluded that its starboard anchor chain had been lowered either fully or almost fully.

During his first interrogation, Maksimenko said he was surprised by the allegation that Fitburg’s anchor had damaged the cables. He said he had ordered the boatswain to secure the anchors with additional fastenings because of winter conditions and the possibility of storms.

“Throughout the ship’s voyage, I was completely certain that everything was fine. That is why, when the helicopter called us, I was extremely surprised. What dragging, when the anchors were secured at four points, with this wire fastening as an extra?” he said, according to the interrogation record.

Maksimenko said he had shown obedience to the law by following the coastguard’s orders instead of continuing into international waters.

“If there is a problem, it must be resolved. That is why I followed all the coastguard’s instructions. I ask you to take that into account,” he said.

He told police that neither he nor his crew had done anything wrong and described the incident as a force majeure situation. He also referred to the Bible, saying that truth saves from death and that he was not afraid.

Captain questioned the anchor evidence

When police asked whether he believed the anchor had been down when the Border Guard helicopter approached the ship, Maksimenko rejected the suggestion.

He said the crew had gone to the bow to remove ice from the area where the chains were secured. After the ice was removed, the anchor pipe was blocked with frozen dirt. The boatswain lowered the chain by less than one shackle to clean the pipe, he said, and then began raising it. At that point, the boatswain saw through the opening that the anchor’s flukes were missing.

Maksimenko repeated that he believed Fitburg had not caused the damage.

Police then showed him a photograph in which anchor chain was visible outside the ship’s starboard anchor hawsehole.

“I do not understand how this is possible,” Maksimenko said, according to the record.

He asked police to note that the chain appeared to run backwards, “as if in the direction of the water”, which he said indicated that the chain was light. He also argued that a whirlpool visible beside the ship suggested that the anchor stock began at that point.

Even if the anchor had been hanging straight down, he said, it would not have reached the level of the bottom of the ship. The vessel’s draught was eight metres, he said.