Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding and fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including Olympic-class trio – RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast; Royal Mail Line's Andes; Shaw, Savill & Albion's Southern Cross; Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle; P&O's Canberra; and Hamburg-America's SS Amerika of 1905. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involved with original construction, dockyards are sometimes more linked with maintenance and basing activities. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.
British Shipbuilders (BS) was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in Great Britain from 1977 through the 1980s. Its head office was at Benton House in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Co (ISOICO) is an Iranian ship yard, located in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, active as shipbuilder and ship-repairer of different types of vessels and offshore structures. ISOICO is a subsidiary of IDRO.
The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is an American maritime classification society established in 1862. Its stated mission to promote the security of life, property, and the natural environment, primarily through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine and offshore assets.
The International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots or MM&P is a United States labor union representing licensed mariners.
Ferguson Marine Limited is a shipbuilding company whose yard, located in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, was established in 1903. It is the last remaining shipbuilder on the lower Clyde and is currently the only builder of merchant ships on the river. For some years the company's mainstay has been Roll-on/roll-off ferries, primarily for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), including a series of innovative hybrid diesel-electric/battery-powered vessels. Beset with difficulties since 2018 over their latest two CalMac ferries, Fergusons' largest ever vessel, the shipyard was nationalised in December 2019. It is now classified as an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.
The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) was one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other was the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). In 2019, CSIC was merged into CSSC.
CSBC Corporation, Taiwan is a company that produces ships for civilian and military use in Taiwan. It is headquartered in Kaohsiung, with shipyards in Kaohsiung and Keelung. It was a state-owned enterprise before privatization via an IPO in 2008.
The Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding in Mykolaiv is a higher education institution which trains specialists for the shipbuilding and allied industries of Ukraine. The university is named after Russian admiral Stepan Makarov, who was born in the city.
The Iran Marine Industrial Company, also known as SADRA, was founded in 1968 as a small ship repair yard in Bushehr. Since then, SADRA has established itself as the leading shipbuilding and ship repairing company in Iran. SADRA is also active in offshore oil & gas development. SADRA specializes in building ships, docks, and floating oil rigs. Sadra Group is a sister company of Iran's state-owned Iran Shipbuilding and Offshores Industries Complex Co. (ISOICO). As of April 2009, the IRGC-controlled construction conglomerate, Khatam al-Anbia owns a controlling stake in SADRA.
Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is a Canadian shipbuilder and in-service support provider. The company owns industrial fabricators Woodside Industries in Dartmouth, Marine Fabricators in Dartmouth, Halifax Shipyard as the largest facility and company head office as well as Halifax-based Fleetway Inc., an engineering and design, support and project management firm.
Vigor Industrial (Vigor) is an American shipbuilding, shiprepair, and industrial service provider in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company consists of several subsidiary companies for a combined total of seven facilities with ten drydocks, more than 17,000 feet of pier space, and over 2,000 employees.
Bay Shipbuilding Company (BSC) is a shipyard and dry dock company in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin. As of 2015, Bay Ships was a subsidiary of Fincantieri Marine Group and produces articulated tug and barges, OPA-90 compliant double hull tank ships and offshore support vessels. It also provides repair services to the lake freighter fleet. In the past the shipyard located in Sturgeon Bay has operated under several different names and traces its history back to 1918.
The King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex is a shipyard in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia that is under construction and planned to open in late 2018. Upon completion, it will be the largest shipyard in the world. Development of the facility began in November 2015, when Saudi Arabian oil and gas company Saudi Aramco and South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding development of marine industry in Saudi Arabia, including a large shipyard. In January 2016, it was announced that the partnership to construct the shipyard had expanded with the signing of an MoU between the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, Maritime Offshore Limited, Saudi Aramco, and HHI. The consortium subsequently signed a joint development agreement in June to undertake feasibility analysis of the shipyard, which had by then been confirmed to be sited in Ras Al-Khair.
The maritime industries of Taiwan are a large part of Taiwan's economy. Industries of particular importance are shipbuilding, boat building, maritime transport, aquaculture, mariculture, commercial fishing, seafood processing, offshore wind power and various forms of tourism. Deep sea mining, especially of dormant hydrothermal vents, is also being considered for the future. In 2018 Taiwan was the fourth largest yacht building nation. Taiwan is home to a number of maritime museums and maritime colleges.
Josefa Slipways, Inc. is a medium-category shipbuilding company based in Navotas, Philippines. It was established in 2005 to provide shipbuilding and ship repair services to shipping companies and maritime government agencies in the Philippines. The company has two slipways in Navotas for docking and launching vessels as well as another facility in Sual, Pangasinan.
China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI)
Shipyard Association of India (SAI)
Indonesia Shipbuilding and Offshore Industry Association
The Shipbuilders' Association of Japan ()
Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association ()
Association of Marine Industries of Malaysia ()
Colombo Dockyard PLC (Sri Lanka)
Thai Shipbuilding and Repairing Association ()
Turkish Shipbuilders' Association ()
Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (in Vietnam)