Future Trends and How to Overcome Welding Challenges in Shipbuilding with Innovation

It’s been said that when it comes to ship construction, a ship’s structural elements are only as strong as their weakest point. That means that welding plays a key role in the building and maintenance of ships and other vessels that are being constructed throughout the United States. A ship’s welds are a critical part of its ability to serve its intended purpose.

But that wasn’t always the case. When the first iron-hulled ships were built in the early 1800s, they depended on riveting to join metal pieces together, relying on fasteners for additional reinforcement. It wasn’t until World War II, when German submarines were sinking American and British ships faster than they could be produced, that welding replaced riveting.

With welding, not only could ships be built faster but the process also produced less wasted metal and steel — important for staying on budget. Between 1941 and 1945, over 2,700 cargo ships were built through welding processes. These ships, called “Liberty ships,” were credited with helping to win the war.

Today, you’ll find that every type of welding process is used at some point during the construction of a ship or vessel, with a variety of materials to match, including aluminum, steel, stainless steel or a mixture of metals. This variety is the reason a myriad of skills, machines and other innovative equipment is required to serve this unique industry.

Unique challenges in shipbuilding welding

The diverse welding processes that shipbuilding requires present numerous challenges. One of the biggest obstacles is that ship welders often must navigate through extremely tight and confined spaces. 

In the beginning stages of constructing a ship, its hull is welded from the outside, giving welders relative freedom to move around as needed while they work. On the inside, however, the spaces get more constricted as the various components are built up, e.g., stairwells, passageways and access areas for plumbing, electrical elements and more. In many cases, welders are working in spaces no bigger than a conventional manhole cover — a narrow 24 inches in diameter — and these tiny spaces are the norm for many maintenance tasks as well.

While many of these tight or difficult-to-reach spaces don’t fall under OSHA’s confined space standards, they’re still difficult jobsite environments. Ship welders often work in spots that can only be reached by ladder or scaffolding. They may need to crawl into or through small spaces to get to their weld. And when they do reach their worksite, it might be hard for them to get into a comfortable position or use proper technique — which can make it difficult to produce high-quality welds.

In addition to the safety challenges that make it tough for welders to reach and work in these spaces, there’s also the need to maintain a safe work environment — specifically around heat risk and fume extraction. Regarding ventilation and fume extraction, the recommended way to determine adequate ventilation is to sample for the composition and quantity of fumes and gases to which personnel are exposed. In some shipyard environments, portable fume extractors such as Miller^® high-vacuum FILTAIR^® 215 and FILTAIR^® 130 fume extraction guns are utilized, while others employ industrial blower units to circulate clean and cool air throughout the confined areas. In terms of PPE, powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) systems can also be relied on to enhance respiratory protection.

Fume extraction concerns are prevalent even when spaces aren’t confined. Shipyards in California, for example, are required by the California Environmental Quality Act to capture all the weld fumes they produce, including welds being performed in the open air. 

Proximity to a welding power source is also a concern. On some jobsites, a welder might be working hundreds of feet from their power source — requiring them to stop welding and walk back to the machine every time a parameter or process change is needed. This is especially tricky when welders find themselves in tight spaces and must crawl on their hands and knees, up and down ladders, and through manholes or narrow pathways to get to the power source.

The lost time adds up, and with it, labor costs increase. This is why many shipyards are now using remote-controlled welding technologies, such as Miller ArcReach^® technology, to minimize the time spent getting to the power source while maximizing arc-on time, weld quality and jobsite safety. The ArcReach system allows welders to adjust their parameters at the weld joint versus having to make the journey back and forth between the power source, restoring up to 250 hours per operator per year lost to walking (not to mention the safety risks navigated while walking).

A perfect storm: shipbuilding welding’s labor and experience gap

Like many industries that rely on skilled labor, the shipbuilding industry is simultaneously experiencing both a labor shortage and a widening experience and skills gap.

It’s not uncommon to have a mix of new-to-the-craft welders and seasoned welders on the same jobsite. As of 2024, there are 771,000 estimated welding professionals who work in shipbuilding and other industries. Of that number, 21.4% of them are ages 55 and older, and over 159,000 welders are approaching retirement — creating a pressing need for shipyards to build their bench of skilled, knowledgeable welders.

To add to the challenge, approximately 330,000 new welding professionals will be needed by 2028 because the military industry is behind on ship production and repair. In Virginia, there are 10,000 current openings for shipbuilding jobs, and that number is expected to quadruple by 2030. A comprehensive review by the U.S. Navy shows that five classes of naval ships are several years behind schedule. And the U.S. Coast Guard is also feeling the pinch of worker shortages, with four separate builders on the Gulf Coast in need of thousands of workers at each location — specifically highly trained welders and design engineers.

Geography also has an impact on the number of available skilled welders. While some shipyards have the good fortune of being in densely populated areas where there’s greater access to talent, others in low population areas have had to get creative with hiring, offering relocation packages to lure welders from other states or regions.

Shipyards have also had to expand their thinking around welding classes and programs, partnering with local community and technical colleges to provide an apprenticeship path. Other shipyards are rolling out their own on-site programs to introduce potential welders to the career.

Both the experience gap and the labor shortage are pushing welding equipment manufacturers to continue to innovate to make sure welding equipment is intuitive and user-friendly. Relying on welders’ feedback to determine what welders need, Miller has designed and engineered innovative technologies to make the work easier for new and seasoned welders alike, including equipment that eliminates the need for control cables and compensates for power fluctuations.

Different regions, different shipbuilding requirements

While the need for talent is consistent and widespread, the types of vessels built vary by location. Many of the shipbuilding companies in the Gulf Coast region, for example, are categorized as Department of Defense shipyards, working exclusively on military contracts for the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marines. Within this niche, there are additional distinctions, such as surface vessels — ships that are designed for warfare on the surface of the water — versus subsurface vessels like submarines. Similarly, there are also categories/designations of combat/noncombat and nuclear/nonnuclear vessels. There are also Gulf Coast shipyards that categorize themselves as “commercial yards” that build and repair gas and oil tankers. 

The hot temperatures in this area of the United States require shipyards to take extra precautions when it comes to welder safety. Many welding crews use PAPRs with cooling functions, like the Miller PAPR with T94-R™ to ensure maximum cooling through targeted air placement.

On the East Coast, there’s an emphasis on the construction of nuclear and subsurface vessels, with welders having to contend with thicker materials that require welding. Because of the material thickness — and slightly colder weather than the Gulf and West coasts — preheating is often essential. There are multiple preheating methods: flame, resistance and induction, the latter of which is unique to the Miller^® portfolio. Induction heating stands out for its safety, accuracy and efficiency — the metal part being warmed becomes its own heating element, delivering true temperature uniformity across the workpiece.

The West Coast is not only knee-deep in new vessel construction projects but also responsible for a majority of ship repair, maintenance, scrapping and scuttling. One of the largest shipbuilders on the West Coast, General Dynamics NASSCO, is a Master Ship Repair contractor for the U.S. Navy and serves as a principal repair facility for its Pacific Fleet ships. Vigor, a shipbuilding facility based in Portland, Oregon, is another large shipbuilder, with a 60-acre shipyard devoted to both ship repair and shipbuilding. And because ferry travel is especially common in this region of the United States, there are smaller shipyards that are devoted to ferry and tugboat construction as well. 

What’s next for the future of shipbuilding and welding 

The pressing shortage of welders — and the knowledge gap that comes with bringing new welders into the fold — is likely to shift the welding profession as we know it today, especially given the fact that demand for ships isn’t slowing down anytime soon. To that point, the U.S. Navy's 30-year shipbuilding plan calls for an increased budget and industry capacity, something that could be exacerbated by labor shortages. 

For welders worried about being replaced by automation, that seems unlikely. The shipbuilding industry, at least in the United States, hasn’t adopted automation as much as our global counterparts, though that may need to change. It might be necessary to embrace automation on a limited scale — and pair it with highly skilled hand welders and other workers — to get American shipbuilding capacity up to the delivery levels needed.

In the meantime, welding manufacturers will be working to refine and enhance equipment that provides solutions to operator and industry pain points. Among the areas Miller has focused on and will continue to lean into include:

• Ease of use: The labor shortage and experience gaps mean that it’s vital to simplify and accelerate training. Technology is making that possible, both inside schools and training facilities — but also with the evolution of equipment in the field. Augmented reality tools such as the Miller MobileArc™ augmented reality welding system and AugmentedArc^® reality welding system can play a part in helping recruit and train the next generation of welders through hands-on, real-world experiences while maximizing instructor efficiency and saving on material costs.

• Reliability and durability: Shipyards, like most places where welding occurs, are notoriously tough on their welding equipment. It’s not uncommon to see wire feeders affixed to overhead ropes, power sources dragged around from place to place or equipment accidentally dropped from a platform. Any equipment must be able to withstand those human elements. At Miller, our products are designed for welders by welders, with rigorous testing in the facility and out in the field to make sure they’re fit for the job, in terms of power and performance as well as their ability to stand up to the environment.

• Timesaving: Time is money for welders and their operations, especially if there’s a shortage of workers on their crews. And the best way to save time is to reduce excess movement. For example, Miller ArcReach technology allows welders to take full control of their work where it matters, with process, electrical polarity and parameter changes at the point of use. The Cable Length Compensation (CLC™) setting means output is automatically adjusted at the power source to account for voltage drop due to long weld cables. In addition, the Auto-Process Reversion feature helps welders return to their original process. When the wire feeder is disconnected, the welding process will default automatically to the previous polarity and settings.

Through the shipbuilding industry’s current welding challenges and the innovations that will be required in the future, Miller is in it for the long haul. We’ll continue to work alongside the industry, creating handheld and automated solutions that will meet the demands from coast to coast to coast.

By Rex Hardman, Ken Hyun and Ryan O’Dell