Keel laying of fourth multi-purpose Pohjanmaa class corvette celebrated at Rauma shipyard

At the Rauma Shipyard, one of the most important stages in the construction of a naval vessel started on Tuesday, 4 August, with the keel-laying of the fourth multi-purpose corvette of Pohjanmaa class. This symbolically important milestone marks the beginning of the hull assembly stage at full pace.

Steel production for the fourth multi-purpose corvette started in January 2026. In the ceremony held in the multi-purpose hall of the Rauma Shipyard on Tuesday, the keel section of the vessel was lowered on a building trestle and the traditional lucky keel coins were placed under it.

The festive address at the ceremony was delivered by Chief of Staff, Commodore Janne Huusko.

“Together with our coastal force and the future unmanned systems, the vessels under construction will be responsible for the maritime capabilities which are important to our entire defence system,” Huusko says.

”The industrial approaches developed during the building programme are now reflected particularly in the efficiency of steel production and hull assembly. Series construction allows us to utilise the expertise gained from the earlier vessels to advance production in a methodical manner and to a high standard. The project is progressing swiftly and in concrete terms, which has strengthened our position as a unique builder of ice-going military vessels. Going forward, this expertise will be made available also to our partner countries,” says CEO and President of RMC, Mika Nieminen.

RMC is building a total of four multi-purpose corvettes of the Pohjanmaa class to the Finnish Navy. The first two vessels have already been launched – the first in May 2025 and the second in May 2026 – and are both now at the outfitting stage. The third vessel is at the assembly stage; her keel was laid in January 2026.

The Pohjanmaa class vessels are designed for year-round operation in the varying conditions of the Baltic Sea. The direct employment impact of the Squadron 2020 project is about 3,600 person-years in Finland.

The order stock of RMC increased further in late 2025 when the Company secured a contract on icebreakers to be built to the U.S. Coast Guard. The temporal overlap of the corvette and icebreaker projects creates significant employment impacts to both the shipyard and the extensive subcontractor network. The projected direct employment impact of the two icebreakers is about 2,000 person-years, and the total impact about 5,000 person-years.