April 2011, Pohjanmaa captured a vessel suspected as pirate mothership along with two speedboats. The search onboard revealed assault rifles, RPGs and other weapons. Eighteen of the suspected pirates were incarcerated onboard Pohjanmaa. Since the Prosecutor General of Finland decided not to prosecute, the pirates were transferred to the jurisdiction of Operation Atalanta, which later released the pirates. The pirate ship and the speedboats were scuttled at sea. Naming Pohjanmaa was christened on 8 June 1979 by Aili Haapkylä. The name comes from the Swedish-built pojamas of the 1770s — see "Pohjanmaa (disambiguation)" for other uses of the name. The vessel has been nicknamed Puuhamaa by the Finnish Navy conscripts after the Finnish amusement park. Replacement Despite modernizations, the over 30-year-old Pohjanmaa reached the end of her operational lifespan in the mid-2010s and the minelayer was decommissioned in late 2013. She will be replaced by the next generation's surface combatant, bigger than the current missile boats and more capable for international co-operation. In addition to Pohjanmaa, the new class of multi-purpose naval vessels—dubbed MTA2020 (Monitoimialus 2020) in the preliminary papers—is intended to replace also Hämeenmaa-class minelayers and s as they are retired. When Pohjanmaa was decommissioned, it was stated that the vessel would be either sold or scrapped if a sufficient buyer is not found. In September 2013, it was reported that the Estonian Navy was interested in purchasing the vessel. However, it was later reported that Estonia decided not to purchase the vessel. Some interest was also expressed by the Croatian Navy whose representatives even came to Finland to inspect the vessel. The Finnish towing and salvage company Alfons Håkans also offered to buy the vessel, but was declined. On 18 December 2015, it was announced that Pohjanmaa would be sold for scrap. The vessel would be broken up in Finland and the operation, which was expected to begin in March 2016, would cost about 248,100 euro. The engines and some equipment would be sold to cover part of the expenses. However, in March 2016 it was reported that the scrapping has been cancelled and the vessel will be sold to Meritaito, the Finnish state-owned shipping company that owns and operates fairway support vessels. The vessel was stripped of her armament and converted to a survey vessel at Western Shipyard in Salo, Finland, according to plans drawn by the Finnish design company ILS Oy. References External links Minelayers of