Launch ceremony held for Finnish Navy’s first Pohjanmaa-class corvette
Peter Felstead
A launch ceremony was held at Rauma shipyard on 21 May 2025 for the first Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvette being built for the Finnish Navy’s Squadron 2020 project.
Construction of the second corvette, meanwhile, began in October 2024 and its keel was laid on 8 May 2025.
According to Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC), which is building the four Pohjanmaa-class corvettes ordered under a EUR 648 million contract awarded in 2019, the project is proceeding on schedule. However, the Finnish Defence Forces website gives the delivery schedule for the ships as being from 2023 to 2025.
Significant investments have been made at Rauma shipyard in recent years to strengthen the yard’s shipbuilding infrastructure and independent production capacity, including the construction of the closed multi-purpose hall in which the multi-purpose corvettes can be built in optimal working conditions. In addition, investments have been made in steel production, a launching barge and heavy transfer ramps.
“We have increased the capacity of Rauma shipyard purposefully while strategically implementing significant investments in the shipyard area. Rauma shipyard is now in peak condition,” Mika Nieminen, the CEO of RMC, was quoted as saying in a company press release.
The technical part of the launch process for the first Pohjanmaa-class corvette was initiated at the beginning of May, when the ship was moved along its heavy transport ramp to the launching barge and transferred to the harbour. Once there, the ship was launched with the help of the barge and then towed to the shipyard’s dry dock for further work, including installation of the ship’s main mast.
The Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvettes, which are 117 m long with a beam of 16.5 m and displace 3,900 tonnes, are designed to operate year-round in all Baltic Sea conditions and are intended to form the future backbone of the Finnish Navy. They will replace four Rauma-class fast attack craft, two Hämeenmaa-class minelayers and the decommissioned minelayer Pohjanmaa.
Saab is acting as the systems integrator for the vessels.
