by magoonigal » Thu Mar 21, 2019 11:56 pm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Name: POHJANMAA
Operator: Finnish Navy
Ordered: 1977
Builder: Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard
Yard number: 421
Laid down: 4 May 1978
Launched: 28 August 1978
Commissioned: 8 June 1979
Decommissioned: Late 2013
Homeport: Upinniemi
Fate: Decommissioned and sold to private company.
Name: Pohjanmeri
Namesake: Finnish for North Sea
Owner: Meritaito
Port of registry: Helsinki
Acquired: April 2016
Identification: IMO number: 4542642
MMSI number: 230664000
Call sign: OJRO
Pohjanmaa is a former minelayer of the Finnish Navy. The sole member of her class, she was the flagship of the Finnish Navy as well as the largest naval ship in service in Finland until 2013. The ship has a Finnish-Swedish ice class 1A so she can operate all year round. During a crisis, the main task for Pohjanmaa would have been mine laying and acting as a command ship. She also acted as a school ship for the Naval Academy cadets. Part of their training includes an annual cruise abroad.
The 34-year-old Pohjanmaa was scheduled for decommissioning in late 2013. In October 2013, minelayer Hämeenmaa took over the role of flagship of the Finnish Navy.
Pohjanmaa was sold to the Finnish company Meritaito in 2016 and refitted as a survey vessel. She was renamed Pohjanmeri, Finnish for the North Sea.
Paul Hood. + WSS Tyneside Branch Hon Sec.