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Shipbuilding and Ship Repair

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.


Shipbuilding and Ship Repair map

Map showing location of U.S. facilities in this sector; please click on the map to see a larger version.

Sector Profile

Facilities in the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair sector build, repair, or alter ships, barges, and other large vessels for military and commercial clients. Most facilities that build ships can also repair them, but some smaller shipyards only perform ship repair work. Shipyards typically include dry docks, shipbuilding positions, berthing positions, piers, workshops, and warehouses. Most domestic shipbuilders make and repair ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and other government agencies.

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Participants:
  • Atlantic Marine Holding Company (Jacksonville, FL)
  • Austal USA (Mobile, AL)
  • BAE Systems Ship Repair (Norfolk, VA)
  • BAE Systems Ship Repair (San Diego, CA)
  • Bath Iron Works (Bath, ME)
  • Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Co. (Mobile, AL)
  • Bollinger Shipyards, Inc.- Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, LLC (Lockport, LA)
  • Electric Boat (Groton, CT)
  • NASSCO (San Diego, CA)
  • Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. – Avondale Facility (New Orleans, LA)
  • Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. – Pascagoula Facility (Pascagoula, MS)
  • Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. – Newport News (Newport News, VA)
  • Signal International, LLC (Pascagoula, MS)
  • Todd Pacific Shipyards (Seattle, WA)
  • Vigor Industrial LLC (Portland OR)

The Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Environmental Metrics Initiative is designed to encourage and build capacity among shipyards to measure and report on key aspects of their environmental footprint in order to inform continuous improvement and support accountability and transparency in the sector.  Fifteen shipyards, representing more than 90% of U.S. shipyard operations, have committed to reporting key environmental data on their environmental footprint to their trade associations on an annual basis. 

Participating shipyards will report annually the following information to their respective trade associations:

The first year of reporting for the Environmental Metrics Initiative will be for 2008 data.  The trade associations will aggregate the information and report the results publicly. The Environmental Metrics Reporting Sheet may be downloaded here (MS Excel, 414K)

The Environmental Metrics Initiative is a starting point for building broader and stronger environmental stewardship efforts throughout the shipbuilding and ship repair sector.  Shipyards participating in the Environmental Metrics Initiative are committing to adding one new environmental metric per year to the initiative over the next few years.

The Shipyard Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory Tool (MS Excel, 532K) is designed to estimate GHG emissions for sources that occur in shipyards. The tool gives each shipyard a customized, credible way to measure its GHG emissions, based on emissions protocols developed by the World Resources Institute and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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Performance Data and Trends for this Sector

You can find data and trends for this sector in the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair chapter of the most recent Sector Performance Report.

The Shipbuilding and Ship Repair chapter in Energy Trends in Selected Manufacturing Sectors: Opportunities and Challenges for Environmentally Preferable Energy Outcomes (PDF) (7 pp, 254K, About PDF) outlines the trends and opportunities in energy use of this sector.

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Promoting Environmental Management Systems

Lean Production and Environmental Management Systems
The purpose of Findings and Recommendations on Lean Production and Environmental Management Systems in the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Sector (PDF) (15 pp, 163K, About PDF) is to summarize research and findings on the relationship between lean production and environmental management systems in the shipbuilding and ship repair sector. Recognizing that lean production—a leading business model being applied in many sectors of the U.S. economy—and EMS both affect environmental performance, EPA initiated research to better understand the relationship between the lean model and EMS. The 2004 report, which is based on interviews with managers at five shipyards, concludes that the lean model and environmental management systems are compatible and synergistic approaches. The report also describes strategies that organizations have used and/or could use to improve their environmental performance and reduce costs by combining lean and environmental management practices.

EMS Implementation Guide
In summer 2003, EPA released the final version of the EMS Implementation Guide for the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry. Developed with ASA and SCA, the Guide describes an EMS that is based on the ISO 14001 standard and reflects an emphasis on sustained compliance, pollution prevention, and information sharing with the community. The Guide provides detailed information to shipyards interested in implementing an EMS and incorporates lessons learned and examples drawn from the experience of shipyards that participated in the Sectors Program pilot.

Business Case for Shipbuilding EMS
In October 2003, EPA released a brochure highlighting the benefits of EMS implementation at shipbuilding facilities. Environmental Management Systems: Systematically Improving your Performance was written with the assistance of SCA, ASA, and nine shipyards that have already adopted an EMS.

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Resources

Trade Associations

Key Documents

Sector-related Links

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