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 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. History Pohjanmaa was built in 1979 at the Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland. Her initial main armament consisted of a Bofors 120 mm Automatic Gun L/46. Pohjanmaa first served as a school ship for the Naval Academy until 1992 when she was transferred to the Gulf of Finland Fleet (Now called Gulf of Finland Naval Command). When she was completed, she replaced the minelayer Ruotsinsalmi and as a school ship, Matti Kurki. On 10 May 1982, she was given the traditional shield of ocean faring vessels previously held by Suomen Joutsen, so in effect Pohjanmaa continues the tradition of the three ships. The ship underwent a heavy modernization program in 1996–1998, which included a replacing her Bofors 120 mm L/46 main gun with a more modern dual-purpose Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/70. The annual training cruise for the cadets has taken the ship as far as Belém, Brazil. The accommodation capacity of the vessel for the long range cruises can be increased with accommodation containers. On 28 June 2005, as part of their cruise, Pohjanmaa participated in the International Fleet Review which is a part of the Trafalgar 200 celebrations. In 2007, the ship was refitted together with the s and her colour scheme changed from camouflage to light grey. Her second aft gun was also removed from the aft deck due to narrow shooting sectors, which were even further narrowed due to a new bigger hydraulic crane of a new seaboat. In 2010, it was decided that the Pohjanmaa would participate in Operation Atalanta in 2011. On 6