Extended Operational and Trade Vocabulary

Shipbuilding Yards and Construction glossary (page 2)

The shipyard and hull-construction vocabulary: the named yards and shipbuilding groups, block construction (aft block, aft peak block), shaft alignment, and the dock-assembly and outfitting terms. Grounds each term in the construction process or the yard it belongs to, the industrial counterpart to the naval-architecture sections.

415 defined terms.

Showing 165 on this page (page 2 of 2).

M

Meyer Turku: Finnish shipbuilder at Turku, the Meyer group's cruise yard for large luxury cruise ships.
Meyer Werft: German shipbuilder at Papenburg, cruise specialist.
Midship block: Parallel midbody block containing cargo holds or tanks of identical cross section.
Midship Section: Transverse section near amidships used in scantling formulas and section modulus calculations.
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding: Japanese shipbuilder that has delivered dedicated CO2 carriers for Northern Lights operations.
Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding: Japanese yard building bulkers and containers.
Module, outfitting: Preassembled assembly of piping, equipment, and supports installed as a unit.
Monfalcone: Fincantieri's Italian yard near Trieste, the group's largest cruise ship facility.
Mortise joint: Type of plate joint in heavy fabrication.
Mulberry blocks: Term in some yards for ancillary outfitting blocks supporting deck systems.

N

Naming ceremony: Formal ceremony at which a vessel receives its name and is christened.
Namura Shipbuilding: Japanese shipbuilder at Imari and Saiki, focused on tankers and bulk carriers.
Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering: NACKS, Sino-Japanese joint venture yard at Nantong between COSCO and KHI.
Navantia: Spanish state shipbuilder, prime on F-100 and Juan Carlos I.
NDT: Non-destructive testing of welds in monopiles, transition pieces, and jackets.
Nested cutting: Optimization arranging plate parts to maximize sheet utilization.
New Times Shipbuilding: Chinese private shipbuilder at Jingjiang, Jiangsu, building bulk carriers and tankers.
Newbuild contract: Shipbuilding contract between yard and owner specifying technical and commercial terms.
Newport News Shipbuilding: Huntington Ingalls yard at Newport News, Virginia, builder of US Navy aircraft carriers and submarines.
Nonferrous outfitting: Installation of bronze, aluminum, or copper components requiring isolation from steel structure.
NSO ship: New series order ship built to a yard's standard design.

O

Off-cuts: Plate scrap remaining after nested cutting.
One-sided welding: Welding from one side of the joint using ceramic backing or copper shoes.
Onomichi Dockyard: Japanese shipbuilder at Onomichi, Hiroshima, building bulkers and tankers.
Open ocean trial: Sea trial conducted in open water testing speed, maneuvering, and propulsion performance.
Oshima Shipbuilding: Japanese yard specializing in handysize and supramax bulkers.
Outfitting: Installation of piping, machinery, electrical, accommodation, and equipment systems.
Outfitting berth: Wet berth where outfitting is completed after the hull leaves the dock.
Outfitting block: Block heavily preoutfitted with piping, cable trays, and equipment before erection.
Outfitting quay: Quay where final outfitting occurs alongside following dock float-out.

P

Paint shop: Enclosed building or hardstand for surface preparation and coating of blocks before erection.
Painting, block: Application of primer and intermediate coats to block surfaces before erection.
Palermo: Fincantieri shipyard in Sicily, repair and conversion oriented.
Panel line: Robotic panel fabrication line.
Papenburg: City on the Ems River and site of Meyer Werft.
Parallel midbody: Central section of the hull with constant cross section.
Pascagoula: Site of Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi.
Pencil-thin line drawing: Reference drawing for production marking.
Penetration weld: Weld designed to fuse fully through the joint thickness.
Pipe spool: Prefabricated pipe assembly with flanges and fittings, installed during outfitting.
Pipe spool fabrication: Workshop production of pipe spools to drawings before installation aboard.
Plasma Cutting: High-temperature plasma arc method used selectively in cleaner cutting zones.
Plate edge preparation: Bevel preparation for welding.
Plate forming press: Hydraulic press cold-forming hull plates to curvature.
Plate nesting: Algorithmic packing of cut parts onto stock plates to minimize waste.
Plate yard: Outdoor storage area holding stock steel plate before processing.
Plate, hull: Steel sheet rolled and welded to form the ship's shell.
Pohang: Korean industrial port and steelmaking center supplying yard plate stock.
Pre-erection: Joining of two or more blocks into a megablock on the hardstand before dock placement.
Pre-outfitting: Outfitting before block erection.
Preheat: Heating of plates before welding to limit cooling rate and hydrogen cracking risk.
Press brake: Light forming press for stiffener bending.
Press, plate: Hydraulic press cold-forming heavy plates around dies.
Procurement: Acquisition of owner-furnished and yard-procured material per project schedule.
Production plan: Yard master plan defining cutting, assembly, erection, and outfitting milestones.
Profile cutter: Machine cutting structural shapes and stiffeners from rolled stock.
Project manager: Yard officer responsible for delivering a contract on schedule and budget.
Pump room block: Tanker block containing cargo and ballast pump room, heavily preoutfitted.

Q

Quality control plan: Yard plan specifying inspection points and acceptance criteria during construction.
Quay, outfitting: Quay where vessels lie afloat for outfitting completion.

R

Radiographic testing: NDT method using X-rays or gamma rays to inspect weld integrity.
Reliance Naval and Engineering: RNEL, Indian shipbuilder at Pipavav, Gujarat, in financial distress and under insolvency.
Reverse engineering, design: Yard process of developing production drawings from basic and detail design.
Rigging plan: lift plan for heavy or unusual loads.
Robotic welding: Robot arms used in panel lines.
Royal Bodewes: Dutch shipbuilder at Hoogezand building general cargo and multipurpose vessels.
Royal IHC: Dutch shipbuilder specialized in dredgers and offshore mining vessels.
Royal Niestern Sander: Dutch shipbuilder at Delfzijl building ferries and special purpose vessels.
Royal Van Lent: Dutch Feadship yard in Aalsmeer and Kaag.

S

Sacheon: Site of K Shipbuilding, formerly STX Offshore and Shipbuilding, in South Gyeongsang.
Safety case, launch: Engineering analysis demonstrating safe launch behavior before a dynamic launch.
Saiki: Site of Honda Heavy Industries shipyard in Oita, Japan.
Saint-Nazaire: Site of Chantiers de l'Atlantique on the Loire estuary.
Sakaide: Site of Kawasaki Heavy Industries shipbuilding facility in Kagawa, Japan.
Samsung Heavy Industries: SHI, Korean shipbuilder at Geoje, building LNG carriers, drillships, and FPSOs.
Sasebo Heavy Industries: Japanese shipbuilder at Sasebo, Nagasaki.
SAW: Submerged arc welding, used for long straight seams on panels and shell plating.
SBIC: Shipbuilding Industry Corporation of Vietnam, the restructured successor to Vinashin.
Scantling draft: Maximum draft used for hull scantling calculations under class rules.
Scantlings: hull structural dimensions assessed against IACS URs and CSR formulae.
Sea trial: Trials at sea testing speed, maneuvering, vibration, noise, and machinery performance.
Section, profile: Rolled steel angle, bulb flat, or T-bar used as stiffener.
Sectional erection: Building of a hull from large sections rather than small blocks.
Sembcorp Marine: Singaporean offshore and shipbuilding group with Tuas Boulevard Yard.
Sestao: Site of Construcciones Navales del Norte in Spain.
Sestri Ponente: Fincantieri yard at Genoa.
Sevmash: Russian shipbuilder at Severodvinsk, building nuclear submarines for the Russian Navy.
Shaft alignment: Engineering process aligning engine, gearbox, intermediate, and tail shaft bearings to acceptable loads and angles.
Shimonoseki: Site of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding's Shimonoseki facility in Yamaguchi, Japan.
Ship lift: Mechanical lift transferring vessels to land.
Shipyard: Industrial facility for building, repairing, and converting ships.
Side block: Side shell hull block including longitudinals, web frames, and possibly side tanks.
Side launch: Sideways dynamic launch across narrow waterways.
Slipway: Inclined ramp for vessel launch and recovery.
SMAW: Shielded metal arc welding, manual stick welding used for repairs and small joints.
Sponsor: Person, often a woman, who christens a ship at its naming ceremony.
Spool, pipe: Prefabricated pipe assembly with flanges and supports.
Stern block: Aft hull block including stern frame, rudder horn, and steering gear flat.
Stern frame: Casting or fabrication forming the stern boss into which the stern tube is inserted.
STX Offshore and Shipbuilding: Former Korean shipbuilder at Sacheon, now K Shipbuilding.
Suape: Port and industrial district in Pernambuco hosting Estaleiro Atlantico Sul.
Subassembly: Combination of cut plate parts into small panels and bracket assemblies before block assembly.
Subic Bay: Site of the former Hanjin Subic shipyard in the Philippines.
Syncrolift: Trade name for a wire-rope ship lift platform.

T

T-bar: Rolled or fabricated tee section used as deck or shell stiffener.
Tack weld: Short temporary weld holding plates in fit-up before final welding.
Tamano: Site of the former Mitsui E&S shipyard in Okayama, Japan.
Tank top: Inner-bottom plating forming cargo hold floor.
Tear-down meeting: Project meeting reviewing each erection block lift for fit and quality.
Throw drawing: Reference drawing showing centerline references for block alignment.
Tied frame: Transverse frame stiffened by web brackets to deck and tank top.
TIG: Tungsten inert gas welding, used for stainless and aluminum joints.
Time charter delivery: Delivery of a vessel into time charter, often coincident with newbuild delivery.
Tool, fairing: Hydraulic clamp or jack used during fit-up.
Topcoat: Final coat of an atmospheric exposure system, providing color, gloss, and weather resistance.
Topping out: Erection of the highest block of a structure, sometimes ceremoniously marked.
Total quality plan: Yard's overall quality assurance program covering production and inspection.
Towage, block: Movement of large blocks between yards or hardstands using barges or pontoons.
Transom block: Aftermost block at the stern including the transom plate.
Transverse web frame: Heavy transverse frame with web plate and face flat.
Trial, builders: Sea trial run by the yard with its own crew before official acceptance.
Trim, launching: Hull attitude during launch, controlled by ballast and cradle geometry.
Tsuneishi Cebu: Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu yard in the Philippines.
Tsuneishi Heavy Industries: Japanese shipbuilder with yards at Hiroshima, Cebu, and Zhoushan.
Tsuneishi Shipbuilding: Japanese yard at Fukuyama, bulk carrier specialist.
Tsuneishi Zhoushan: Tsuneishi group yard in Zhejiang province, China.
Turnover, block: Use of crane and turning fixture to invert a block for downhand welding access.

U

Ulsan: South Korean city hosting HHI and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
Ultrasonic testing: NDT method using high-frequency sound to detect weld and plate defects.
United Shipbuilding Corporation: USC, Russian state shipbuilding group with multiple subsidiaries.
Universal Shipbuilding Corporation: Former Japanese builder merged into Japan Marine United.
Updating, drawing: Revision of construction drawings to reflect approved engineering changes.
Upper deck block: Block forming the uppermost continuous deck and adjacent shell.

V

Vard Group: Norwegian shipbuilder owned by Fincantieri, building offshore and specialized vessels.
Vasco da Gama: Portuguese navigator who reached India by sea in 1498.
VEKA Group: Dutch builder of inland waterway and small seagoing tonnage.
Vessel naming: Christening of a ship at the naming ceremony, often with a sponsor.
Vinashin: Vietnamese state shipbuilding group, restructured as SBIC after 2010.
VT Halter Marine: US shipbuilder at Pascagoula, formed by Vision Technologies acquisition of Halter Marine.

W

Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding: SWS, CSSC subsidiary at Shanghai, builder of VLCCs and bulkers.
Walkway block: Outfitting block including engine room grating and walkway structures.
Warpage, welding: Out-of-plane distortion in plates caused by welding heat.
Warranty period: Post-delivery period during which the yard remedies defects, typically twelve months.
Watertight Bulkhead: Subdivision element for damage stability per SOLAS II-1.
Ways, launch: Greased timbers supporting and guiding the launch cradle.
Weld bead: Raised seam of weld metal whose edges must be ground smooth before coating.
Weld map: Plan showing weld types and procedures for each joint.
Weld procedure specification: Qualified document defining parameters for each weld type.
Weld qualification record: Documentary record qualifying welders for specific procedures.
Weld, butt: Weld joining plates end to end.
Weld, fillet: Triangular weld at the junction of two surfaces.
Weld, full penetration: Weld penetrating completely through the joint thickness.
Welder, qualified: Welder certified to a specific procedure and position.
Welding rod: Consumable filler metal used in stick welding.
Welding sequence: Order of weld passes designed to control distortion.
Welding shop: Workshop area for fabrication and joining of subassemblies and blocks.
Welding, automatic: Welding using mechanized carriages or robots.
Wenchong Shipyard: Huangpu Wenchong, CSSC subsidiary at Guangzhou building ferries and offshore vessels.
Wheelhouse block: Top accommodation module containing the navigation bridge.
Workshop, panel: Fabrication shop housing the panel line.

Y

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding: Chinese private shipbuilder listed in Singapore.
Yantar Shipyard: USC shipyard at Kaliningrad, Russia, building frigates and research vessels.
Yard Number: Hull number assigned by builder at keel laying.

Z

Zhoushan: Chinese port and shipbuilding cluster in Zhejiang province, host to repair and newbuild yards.
Zvyozdochka: USC shipyard at Severodvinsk specializing in submarine repair, modernization, and decommissioning.