If anyone knows anything about shipyards, cause I was thinking about working at The Cleveland Shipyard or moving down south a little and working at Newport News Shipyard cause my instructor says that shipyards are always hiring. I would like to know if anyone could tell me what they might start me off as, because Im hoping to have two certifications that can get me easily into shipbuilding by the end of the school year. Thanks in advance :)
By Mat 
Date 04-12-2007 09:43
Edited 04-12-2007 09:50
Starting out? Probably a helper.
Taylor shipyards i found were the best.Some are very hard to get into though.Word of caution when looking for work down south,Before excepting any job make sure they offer good benfits.Health insurance,sick day,vactaion,profit sharing,401 ks etc.I have been offered the moon from jobs down south then when i ask what the bennies are there are none.Not to ditch the southern areas just be cautious on what your looking for.As for shipyards i worked in a few.There great an lot of fun.Ive always found the (Yardbirds) to be a bounce of wonderful people.An very skilled in there craft.Welding in shipyards is all over the board.One i worked in had different shops that did different types of welding.Another words they were broking off into there specfic skill areas an thats the type of welding they did.Smaller shipyards i found were good for me.You were never on the same project for to long.I found for myself that after about a month im ready to move on to the next boat.When it comes to certifications i did alot of 6g pipe tests.We mostly burned 6011 an 7018 on most jobs.So i would get my pipe welding down real good.Also you will do alot of verticals so perfect that.In shipyards theres alot of welding out of position.As for what they will start you out as just remember its your dream.What do you want to be.When you find the direction you want to go in then go.Just remember dont over sell yourself an dont under sell yourself. Always see what type of contuining training the shipyard offers.One shipyard i worked in a had a hugh sign that read IF YOU DONT KNOW ASK.Some people think that asking questions is a weakness i think its a money saver an thats what that companys point was.Oh an if you hook up with a good one let me know lol.Also learn as much as you can about the trade.The parts of a ship the terms an words they use to describe different areas of a ship.Good luck an keep in touch,
monsoon12
I can tell you a little about Newport News in general.
Your certifications will serve as a good ticket to get in, but you have to requalify once you start there.
You shouldn't have a problem getting the job, but it is in a hot, humid environment (one of the complications of being located in the south and on a river) and there is a lot of confined space/ladder/staging work.
You can, with time, be exposed to nearly every welding process and material - from GTAW to sub-arc and from carbon steel to titanium. Robotics are starting to work their way into shipbuilding as well.
You will be in a job that emphasizes safety more than most others....but they have to, since there are plenty of hazards associated with shipbuilding.
Finally - you might consider going to their Apprentice School. I'm sure there are details on their web site. When you get done you will be a skilled welder who has had exposure to almost every metalworking trade and it will help you get into welding supervisory positions.
thanks for the info guys. its just that im kinda stuck between becoming an ironworker around cleveland or working in a shipyard. and i was told by my instructor that the yards start you off as 3rd degree tacker or something like that. and the you have to take a million tests to become a full on welder. but im only a junior at my career center, so i have like 2 years to figure this out. yeah about the out of position welding. im good at that. i can do 6010 (5P) and 7018 in all positions really well. and im trying to get a couple of cert. tests down by the end of the year. and i can MIG, and oxy-act cut pretty good. oh, and oxy-act welding im good at. i dont even know if they do that much of it anymore, but i can do it. so yeah its just that like everyone else, im looking to make the most cash fastest and since i love welding so early, im trying to get done all that i possibly can to do it such as learning different processes and doing lots of tests. and i was planning on trying 6G pipe but my instructor says im gonna need to practice alot more especially since its x-rayed. but anyway thanks guys.
I'm from close to the cleveland are and am looking for a welding job also. My teacher worked in a shipyard up that way. Hook me up with any info you can about where it's located and who to contact about a job there.
There's a lot of work on the Gulf Coast right now, mostly oil platform construction and repair. Most of the yards here in south Texas are small (thus the lack of good bennies), you need to go to Galveston for the big ones. In my opinion, you want to work in a naval ship yard. Check with Northrop Grumman, they are in the middle of a huge Navy contract in Mississippi, and it's going to last a long time. You will gain more experience doing more jobs there than anything else I can think of. Pipe, structural, sheet metal, you'll be able to do it all. Newport News is a good place, they get all the nuclear carrier contracts. I don't know the outlook for jobs in the civil service there, but I was recently in the Puget Sound area and they were still hiring a ton of 1st year apprentices, and word has it if you showed enough potential they'd advance you a step right out of orientation. If you don't have very much experience and you want to learn fast, civil service is the way to go.
Shipyards are interesting places. I just worked my very first shipyard job in the Mid Atlantic region. Keep an eye on your tools and your gangbox locked. If you are working on the main deck and a crane blows it's horn, look up and stay out from under the load, it might be a port-a-john or a enormous load that God only knows who rigged :) Welding leads are strung everywhere like spinderwebs and people cut holes in the deck so watch where you are walking. If you are working below deck, you have the pleasure of sometimes not seeing the light of day until break or lunchtime. The welding smoke gets thick so wear your respirator. When a influx of hiring is done and welding machines are running short, be prepared to have someone unplug your leads just about the time you go to strike an arc. It happens and it especially sucks if you are working decks below the location of your welding machine.
Ok, now that I have told you about all of the pleasant things in my first shipyard experience here are some of the actual good points...
You will work with people from all over the world who have training from some incredible places. If you work really hard people will notice and will help you. You get all kinds of exposure to torch cutting, gouging, mig, stick, tig welding. Wait until you see some of the things that these folks do with some of this stuff, it is amazing!
I highly recomend giving it a shot if nothing more than just to say that you tried it. It is quite an experience! Especially for a girl!
PHilly shipyard is always hiring. Seems the migrant workers do not stay long because they learn that they are paid way less than they should be for the job they do. I guess this is an immigrant apprentce program.
