Rauma Shipyard lays keel for first Finnish Navy Squadron 2020 corvette

A keel-laying ceremony for first Fininish Navy Squadron 2020 corvette was held at Rauma shipyard on 11 April. (Rauma shipyard)

Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) laid the keel for the first Squadron 2020 Pohjanmaa-class multirole corvette on order for the Finnish Navy during a ceremony at its shipyard in Rauma on 11 April.

Announcing the milestone the same day, RMC said the yard has been making good progress on the first ship since the first steel was cut on 30 October 2023. “It has been five months since the start of construction, and the operative phase has progressed efficiently,” RMC said.

RMC is delivering four Pohjanmaa-class multirole corvettes in total for the Finnish Navy under a EUR647.6 million (USD687.8 million) design and construction contract awarded in 2019 – with the build being carried out by its subsidiary RMC Defence. The corvettes are being constructed in a new covered assembly hall built specifically for the Squadron 2020 programme, measuring 180×40×30 m and with a floor area of about 13,000 m².

Under current planning, the lead ship is expected to start sea trials in 2026, with all four ships to be delivered by 2029.

The steel monohull vessels will have an overall length of 117 m, a beam of 16 m, and a draught of 5 m, and will carry a crew complement of 70. Powered by a combined diesel-electric and gas-turbine propulsion system, the ships will have a top speed of 26 kt and an endurance of 14 days. Design features include an ice-strengthened hull to the equivalent of 1A class to enable the ships to operate in the Baltic year-round in all conditions.