Shipyard

For the brewery, see Shipyard Brewing Company.

Small shipyard in Klaksvík (Faroe Islands), repairing fishing vessels

Fish ladder and shipyard in Grave, Netherlands

Gdynia Shipyard

Kawasaki Shipbuilding Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works, Kobe, Japan

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft in Zürich-Wollishofen, Switzerland

Shipyards and dockyards are places where ships are repaired and built. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.

Countries with large shipbuilding industries include South Korea, Australia, Japan, China, Germany, Turkey, Poland and Croatia. The shipbuilding industry tends to be more fragmented in Europe than in Asia. In European countries there are more smaller companies, compared to the fewer, larger companies in the shipbuilding countries of Asia.

Most shipbuilders in the United States are privately owned, the largest being Huntington Ingalls Industries, a multi-billion dollar defense contractor. The publicly owned shipyards in the US are Naval facilities providing basing, support and repair.

Shipyards are constructed by the sea or by tidal rivers to allow easy access for their ships. In the United Kingdom, for example, shipyards were established on the River Thames (King Henry VIII founded yards at Woolwich and Deptford in 1512 and 1513 respectively), River Mersey, River Tees, River Tyne, River Wear and River Clyde – the latter growing to be the World's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre.

Sir Alfred Yarrow established his yard by the Thames in London's Docklands in the late 19th century before moving it northwards to the banks of the Clyde at Scotstoun (1906–08). Other famous UK shipyards include the Harland and Wolff yard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the Titanic was built, and the naval dockyard at Chatham, England on the Medway in north Kent.

The site of a large shipyard will contain many specialised cranes, dry docks, slipways, dust-free warehouses, painting facilities and extremely large areas for fabrication of the ships.

After a ship's useful life is over, it makes its final voyage to a shipbreaking yard, often on a beach in South Asia. Historically shipbreaking was carried on in drydock in developed countries, but high wages and environmental regulations have resulted in movement of the industry to developing regions.

History

The world's earliest known dockyards were built in the Harappan port city of Lothal circa 2400 BC in Gujarat, India. Lothal's dockyards connected to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert was a part of the Arabian Sea.

Lothal engineers accorded high priority to the creation of a dockyard and a warehouse to serve the purposes of naval trade. The dock was built on the eastern flank of the town, and is regarded by archaeologists as an engineering feat of the highest order. It was located away from the main current of the river to avoid silting, but provided access to ships in high tide as well.

The name of the ancient Greek city of Naupactus means "shipyard" (combination of the Greek words ναύς naus ship, boat and πήγνυμι pêgnumi, pegnymi builder, fixer). Naupactus' reputation in this field extends to the time of legend, where it is depicted as the place where the Heraclidae built a fleet to invade the Peloponnesus.

In the Spanish city of Barcelona, the Drassanes shipyards were active from at least the mid-13th century until the 18th century, although it at times served as a barracks for troops as well as an arsenal. During its time of operation it was continuously changed, rebuilt and modified, but two original towers and part of the original eight construction naves remain today. It is currently a maritime museum.

Ships were the first items to be manufactured in a factory, several hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, in the Venice Arsenal, Venice, Italy. The Arsenal apparently mass produced nearly one ship every day using pre-manufactured parts, and assembly lines and, at its height, employed 16,000 people.

Historic shipyards

Ancient Shipyard of the Seljuks in Alanya, Turkey. The shipyard, consisting of five docks and constructed in 1226 by the Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat, is 56 metres long and 44 metres deep and is the only remaining shipyard from the Seljuks.

• Lothal in Gujarat, India circa 2400 BC to 1900 BC
• Naupactus
• Roman shipyard of Stifone (Narni)
• Blackwall Yard 1614 to 1987
• Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock, Scotland, 1711–1984
• Kraljevica Shipyard established on 28 April 1729 and still operating yard
• Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd 1837 to 1912
• William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland 1840 to 1963
• John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland 1851 to 1972
• Gdańsk Shipyard the birthplace of Solidarity Movement – (still a working yard)
• Swan Hunter – (closed in April 2006 and sold to Bharati Shipyards, India's second largest private sector shipbuilder)
• Harland and Wolff – (still a working yard)
• Cammell Laird – (still a working repair yard)
• Blohm + Voss, where the Bismarck was constructed (still a major yard)
• Royal Naval Dockyards in the UK (including Woolwich, Deptford, Chatham, Portsmouth and Devonport), Gibraltar, Bombay, Bermuda, Hong Kong and elsewhere worldwide
• Bethlehem Steel Corporation had 15 shipyards during World War II
  • Staten Island Shipyard 1895
• Charlestown Navy Yard, later Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts 1800 to 1974
• Ulstein Verft, Norway, established in 1917 (still a working yard under the Ulstein Group)
• Navy Island, Ontario, Canada – French in the 18th century, then British 1763 to War of 1812
• Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Mare Island, California, 1854 to 1996
• New York Naval Shipyard (NYNSY), also known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the New York Navy Yard, and United States Navy Yard, New York 1801 to 1966
• Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 1799 to 1995, at two locations
• San Francisco Naval Shipyard, later Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, then Treasure Island Naval Station Hunters Point Annex, 1941 to 1994
• Potrero Point, San Francisco, California, 1880s – still a working yard
• Long Beach Naval Shipyard, 1943 to 1997
• Golden Horn Shipyard, (Haliç Tersaneleri), Turkey, established in 1455 – still a working yard
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, located on Maine-New Hampshire border; Operational: 1800 to present, making it the oldest continuously-operating shipyard of the US Navy.
• Chantiers de l'Atlantique(Aker Yard France) - established in 1861 (still a working yard)
• Nantes-Indret, France - Establish in 1771 it built ships for the American Revolution including the Deane.
• 3. Maj – One of the largest shipyard in Mediterranean, established in 1892 in Rijeka (still a working yard)
• SLKB Komarno (Komárno) – Slovak Shipyard Komárno – European shipyard on Danube, established in 1898
• Lindstrom Shipyard 1899–1918 – (The shipyard was built in Aberdeen, Washington by John E. Lindstrom Jr. and associate Charles R. Green, Carl Almer Lindstrom (Designer), Andrew P. Lindstrom, John "Rigger" Johnson).

Prominent dockyards and shipyards

North America

Aerial view of Norfolk Naval Shipyard

• Newport News Shipbuilding, (formerly Northrup Grumman Newport News) is the largest private ship builder in the US and the one best known for its unique capacity to build the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
• Ingalls Shipbuilding, part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, located in Pascagoula, Mississippi repaired the USS Cole and builds offshore drilling rigs, cruise ships and naval vessels.
• National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego, California, part of General Dynamics; is the primary shipbuilding location on the west coast of the United States.
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, is one of the largest shipyards in the world; specializing in repairing, overhauling and modernizing naval ships and submarines. It's the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the United States Navy
• Electric Boat Division (EBDiv) of General Dynamics in Groton, Connecticut with an accessory facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, builder of many Naval submarines over the past 100 years, with some types built only here.
• Bath Iron Works (BIW), subsidiary of General Dynamics, is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine.
• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, is also owned by the U.S. Navy. It services ships and submarines from the West Coast.
• The Portland, Oregon shipyard, operated by Cascade General Ship Repair (which is owned by Vigor Industrial) is the largest such facility on the United States West Coast.
• The Louisiana Port is along the Mississippi river. It involves the Bollinger company in St. Rose.

South America

Brasfels Shipyard – Rio de Janeiro

• The DIANCA shipyard in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela.
• SCRA (Construction Refurbishment and Armament Service) with two dry docks, ready for naval and general vessel works.
  • Punta de Lobos (Wolves Point) in west Montevideo, established in 1874.
  • Punta Maua (Maua Point) in east Montevideo, established in 1872.
• Tsakos Industrias Navales S.A.
• Talleres Navales del Golfo SA de CV in Veracruz, Mexico. A member of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group

Europe

Girvan shipyard, Ayrshire, Scotland

• BAE Systems Surface Ships operates three shipbuilding yards in the United Kingdom; Portsmouth, England and Scotstoun and Govan on the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Major projects include the Type 45 destroyer and the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
• BAE Systems Submarine Solutions operates a major shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England. It is one of the few yards in the world capable of building nuclear submarines such as the Royal Navy's Vanguard class. This division has built surface ships in the past and will manufacture blocks of the Queen Elizabeth class.
• Navantia is a Spanish shipbuilding firm, which offers its services to both military and civil sector. It is the fifth largest shipbuilder in Europe, and the ninth largest in the world with shipyards all over Spain. It is located at Ferrol.
• Devonport Dockyard, located in the city of Plymouth, England in the county of Devon is the largest naval base in Western Europe. It has 15 dry docks, four miles (6 km) of waterfront, 25 tidal berths, five basins and covers 650 acres (2.6 km²). It is the main refitting base for Royal Navy nuclear submarines and also handles work on frigates. It is the base for seven of the Trafalgar class nuclear powered hunter-killer submarines and many frigates, exploiting its convenient access to the Atlantic Ocean. It supports the Vanguard class Trident missile nuclear ballistic missile submarines in a custom-built refitting dock. It houses HMS Courageous, a nuclear powered submarine used in the Falklands War and open to the general public. Facilities in the local area also include a major naval training establishment and a base for the Royal Marines.
• Sobrena in Brest, France. It operates 3 drydocks, up to 420 by 80 metres.

East Asia

• Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard, in South Korea, is currently the largest in the world and has the capability to build a variety of vessels including Commercial Cargo, Offshore and Naval vessels.
• Yantai Raffles Shipyard, in Yantai, China, is that country's largest offshore builder. It employs the 20,000 ton crane Taisun, the holder of the Heavy Lift World Record. Yantai Raffles' portfolio includes offshore platforms, pipe lay and other specialized vessels.
• Vuotsong Shipyard, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, employs 600 workers and 400 subcontracted workers yearly, and in 2007 received the ISO 9002 certification. They work under control of Vietnamese VIRES and Bureau VERITAS.

South East Asia

• Selat Melaka Shipbuilding Corporation (Malaysia)
• PT Surya Prima Bahtera Heavy Industries,in Batam, Indonesia.
• The Bangkok Dock Company Sattahip, Thailand
• Marsun Company Limited (MCL) Samutprakarn, Thailand
• Marine Acme Thai Dockyard (MAT) Samutprakarn, Thailand

South Asia

• Colombo Dockyard in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is the largest engineering facility in the business of ship repair, shipbuilding, heavy engineering and offshore engineering in Sri Lanka.
• NorthStar Shipbuilding Pvt Limited in New Mumbai, India, is one of the leading shipyard in India for small and mid-size ships.
• Sulkha Shipyard builds a wide variety of ships. It has been in operation for 500 years.
• Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, India, is that country's largest shipyard. It is building the Vikrant class aircraft carrier.
• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers is located in India. It is owned by the Government of India and is constructing the Shardul class Large landing ship tank for the Indian Navy.
• Karachi Shipyard and Naval Dockyard in Karachi, Pakistan, is that country's first and oldest yard. It constructs cargo ships, tugboats, support vessels, and warships.
• Mazagaon Dockyard, operated by state-owned Mazagaon Dock Limited, is one of India's largest shipyards. It constructs a variety of ships both for the defence and civilian sector. The dockyard is known for constructing Britain's HMS Trincomalee. Currently the shipyard is building three Shivalik class frigates and three Kolkata class destroyers for the Indian Navy.
• The beach at Alang in the Indian state of Gujarat is the site of a large complex of shipbreaking yards. In 2010, the yard dismantled 357 ships; on average the yard processes 28-30 ships a month.

See also

• List of shipbuilders and shipyards
• Shipbuilding

External links

• Drassanes at Barcelona – The Drassanes shipyard in Barcelona, with some original buildings dating to the 13th century.
• India based shipyards – India based shipyard.
• Sea Your History – Website from the Royal Naval Museum – Discover detailed information about Portsmouth Dockyard and the Royal Navy in the 20th century.
• U.S. Shipyards – extensive collection of information about U. S. shipyards, including over 500 pages of U. S. shipyard construction records
• Trading Places – interactive history of European dockyards
• Shipyards United States – from GlobalSecurity.org
• Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard
• European shipyards – shipbuilding history in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Slovakia