The latest data from the U.S. Maritime Administration accounts for 154 active, private shipyards and another 300 private shipyards “conducting repair or other shipbuilding or repair services” in 29 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Those facilities, as of 2023, have 105,652 workers on their payrolls with employment in shipbuilding sector “increasing steadily over the past five years,” according to IBISWorld, the New York-based research firm.
Finding workers suited to tough, demanding jobs with the required skills and mindset, though, remains a challenge with shipyards across the country taking a new – and in one case, a not so new – tack in building their workforces by creating apprenticeship programs to attract and retain a pool of trained personnel.
One of the oldest such apprenticeship programs is offered by Ingalls Shipbuilding at the Apprentice School the company operates at its Pascagoula, Ms., shipyard.
Founded in the 1950s, the school has grown into a 70,000 square-foot operation with 24 classrooms, three computer labs, a library, a bookstore, 26 offices/conference rooms, and several state-of-the-art craft labs for students to practice the various shipyard trades.
The school’s intense 6,000-hour program involves a comprehensive three- to four-year curriculum for students starting shipbuilding careers as shipfitters, joiners, welders, electricians, painters, pipefitters, riggers, machinists, carpenters, and other related occupations.
Programs include both on-the-job training and related classroom instruction with students given the opportunity to learn all the phases of a selected craft, primarily through a job-rotation system that allows hands-on participation in the various job assignments within the 500 job titles at the shipyard.
The school has trained and graduated more than 4,000 skilled workers, who are promoted to the status of journeyman following successful completion of the program.
“We are actively accepting applications for individuals that believe they have what it takes to be a shipbuilder at Ingalls, even if they have no prior experience in shipbuilding,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding spokesperson Kimberly Aguillard in a recent media interview. “Every effort is made to provide individuals with a career and an opportunity to learn while earning competitive wages.”
On the West Coast, Gunderson Marine’s Portland, Or.-based facility is equipped to build a wide range of both inland waterway and ocean-going vessels.
Earlier this year, the shipbuilder opened its new Trade Skills Training Center to serve as an on-site hub for trade skills development in the specialties of basic shipfitting, industrial safety practices, and welding.
“The Training Center is about more than skills; it’s about shaping futures and building careers,” says Gunderson Marine COO, Joe Corvelli.
While the primary focus is on training welders, a critical and much-sought after skill in shipbuilding, the Training Center also offers opportunities for individuals to develop additional skills needed in the maritime industry.
The decision to open the Center, said Corvelli, “aligns with the growing demand for skilled workers to meet the needs of our customers” and grow a highly trained workforce.
“We recognize the importance of skilled tradespeople and hope to grow our workforce as much as we can,” he said. “The Training Center is a permanent program designed to address our ongoing need for skilled workers. Our goal is to establish a sustainable framework for training and developing talent to support long-term growth.”
After the completion of the paid training program, Gunderson evaluates graduates with many receiving offers of full-time work.
On the East Coast, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Me., has two long-standing trades apprentice programs – the Trades Apprenticeship Program and the Worker Skills Progression Program representing 24 different trades. Both programs “provide the skills and capability needed to execute mission requirements and are a critical component of the shipyard workforce.”
The four-year Trades Apprenticeship consists of academic courses administered jointly by Great Bay Community College, Pease and York County Community College, and trade-related courses conducted by the shipyard’s training department, according to Gary Hildreth, a spokesman for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
In addition, on-the-job training is accomplished under the mentorship of highly experienced production trades workers, he said, with the combined academic and hands-on training enabling participants to become journey-level workers with a greater understanding of their craft.
Skillset areas covered by the programs include marine machinery mechanic, shipfitter, marine electrician, shipwright, crane operator, material expediter, and painter.
“The Worker Skills Progression Program is a three- to five-year apprenticeship where previous work experience and technical trade training are combined with on-the-job training to advance participants to the trade mechanic level,” said Hildreth.
Shipbuilder Austal USA offers both post-hire, paid training programs designed to enhance existing skills, particularly in the area of aluminum welding, as well as opportunities for entry-level apprentices.
The individualized, one-on-one training curricula “are taught by instructors familiar with Austal’s specific requirements and procedures,” the company said.
The Mobile Al.-based company’s apprenticeship program is the largest U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) registered Apprentice Program in the state of Alabama with graduates receiving a DOL certificate certifying them as journeypersons.
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Wa., offers an apprenticeship program to “develop a sustainable core workforce of journeypersons with the full body of on-the-job and trade knowledge necessary to fill vital workforce gaps.”
According to the company, its apprenticeship program “provides employment, education, and training of technical skills under the guidance of both journeyman and technical experts” in areas such as vessel construction; hull component fabrication; piping systems; machinery installation and alignment; structural welding; and the preparation of surfaces for painting.
The success of its program, the company said, is achieved “by focused tracking of assignments and classroom instruction which enables the apprentice to learn and demonstrate competence in the various job assignments within the particular trade.”
The college-level program is registered with the State of Washington and is comprised of a demanding classroom curriculum that meets the requirements of the state’s Department of Labor & Industries and classes that meet on-site after or before regular paid work hours.
A normal academic load is about three hours of classroom instruction per week and apprentices are required to maintain a minimum cumulative average of 80 percent.
St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fl., builds and repairs steel and aluminum craft such as tugs, barges, landing craft, and general cargo vessels.
Last year, the company introduced a comprehensive vocational training program designed to offer instruction in a variety of sought-after marine and shipbuilding crafts and trades via a phased-in process that corresponds to the industry’s in-demand skill sets.
An initial six-week course provides workers with the essential skills required in the industry. After completing the basic program, participants transition into multi-year, on-the-job apprenticeships, allowing them to further develop and master their chosen crafts.
Starting with developing and honing welding and shipfitting skills, the program is slated to eventually expand to encompass other relevant disciplines, the company said.
Paralleling and contributing to the growth of apprenticeship programs is the Small Shipyards Grant Program, a USDOT/Maritime Administration-funded activity that provides funding “to make capital and related improvements to foster efficiency, competitive operations, and quality ship construction, repair, and reconfiguration in small shipyards.”
That includes funds for training workers in shipbuilding, ship repair, and associated industries. The most recent annual funding topped $20 million and operates under a matching funds formula.
Grants are typically about $1 million, according to David M. Heller, associate administrator for business and finance development at the Maritime Administration.
The program, he added. “is currently awaiting new funding and training has been part of the mix of allowable expenditures since it got off the ground in 2008.” •