Fitburg ship flew Finnish state flag during cable damage investigation

The Fitburg cargo ship, suspected in cable damage in the Gulf of Finland on New Year’s Eve 2025, flew a Finnish state flag during the incident, Yle reports.

The swallowtail flag, which features Finland’s coat of arms bordered in yellow, is used by the headquarters, units, institutions and vessels of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its use is not permitted on a foreign cargo ship.

The ship was sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Central Criminal Police seized the flag while investigating the cable damage and examined whether the crew had violated regulations governing the Finnish flag.

During questioning, an Azerbaijani boatswain said the second officer was responsible for the ship’s flags. He said a Russian flag had flown from the mast during the night, but it was apparently replaced in the morning after the vessel crossed into Finnish waters.

The boatswain told police that raising a flag when entering a country’s territorial waters was a decision made by the captain. The captain, Russian national Andrei Maksimenko, said he had ordered the Finnish flag to be raised.

Maksimenko said the crew did not know that the flag was the Finnish government’s flag and that it was not allowed for their use. He described the incident as a mistake and said the flag may have been stored on the ship for years because there was no other flag available.

He said raising a country’s flag when entering its territorial waters was intended as a sign of respect and a willingness to follow that country’s laws. After the incident, the crew ordered a new flag from the shipping company.

The ship’s Russian chief officer also admitted raising the flag. He said he had found it in an unopened package marked “Finnish flag” and apologised sincerely, saying he had not intended anything bad.

The pretrial investigation did not establish how the Finnish state flag had originally ended up on the ship. The Central Criminal Police closed that part of the investigation, concluding that there was ultimately no reason to suspect a crime, so the crew faced no consequences over the flag.

The investigation into the cable damage led to charges. Prosecutors are seeking two-and-a-half-year prison sentences for the Fitburg captain and boatswain for aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications. The charges began being heard at the Helsinki District Court on Tuesday.