The Fujairah Appeal Court has ordered the owner of a Maltese-flagged ship and its Greek captain to pay a Dh2 million fine for cutting Emirates Telecommunications Corp's (Etisalat) marine communication cable in Fujairah.

The ship cut the cable several months ago as it was entering Fujairah port, causing heavy losses to Etisalat. Earlier, the Fujairah Sharia Court acquitted the captain. The Fujairah Public Prosecutor appealled.

The Appeal Court set up an investigative committee comprising Captain Mohammed Tamer Masoud, a marine expert, and Lieutenant Abdullah Saeed of the Coast Guard. Their report confirmed that the ship cut the Etisalat cable.

The Appeal Court ordered the captain and the owner of the ship to pay the Dh2 million fine.
The court also ordered the captain to pay a Dh1,000 fine in addition to the lawyers' fees. The court ordered Etisalat to pay Dh15,000 in fees for the two marine experts.