File Photo – Lehtikuva.
Finland has begun replacing obsolete navy vessels. Four new ships will replace seven old ones, the Defence Ministry announced on Friday.
The lifecycles for six of the navy's current battleships end in the middle of the 2020s. Maintaining the four Rauma-class missile boats as well as two Hamina-class mine ships built in the early 1990s is no longer worthwhile.
The minelayer Pohjanmaa is already obsolete. It will either be sold, scrapped or placed in a museum. Pohjanmaa was built in 1978.
The new vessels are scheduled to be available from 2025 onwards.
The lifecycle of the vessels is approximately 35 years, and they cost euro 1.2 billion in total.
The navy typically purchases warships built in Finland.
The navy representatives, however, are familiarising themselves with foreign-made ship
