Rauma shipyard lays keel for Finland’s final Pohjanmaa-class corvette

Yle reports that the keel of the fourth and final Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvette was laid at the Rauma shipyard on Tuesday.

The hull assembly of the final vessel in the Finnish Navy’s order is now getting under way. Rauma Marine Constructions and its subsidiary are building four multi-purpose corvettes for the Navy.

The first two vessels have already been launched and are being fitted out. The keel of the third corvette was laid in January.

The Navy described keel laying as a traditional and symbolically important milestone in a ship’s construction, marking the concrete start of assembling the warship’s blocks.

RMC said the corvette order will directly create about 3,600 person-years of employment in Finland. The shipyard and its subcontractors are also being significantly supported by the construction of icebreakers for the United States Coast Guard.

The two icebreakers are estimated to generate about 2,000 person-years of direct employment and about 5,000 person-years in total, according to the company.