Civilian shipyard workers built and repaired ships packed with asbestos from keel to bridge. Engine and boiler rooms, machinery spaces, piping runs, and bulkheads were allegedly lined with asbestos insulation, gaskets, and fireproofing — much of it the same material used on Navy vessels. Insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, machinists, and shipfitters worked shoulder to shoulder in the tight, poorly ventilated spaces of a hull, where fiber from one trade drifted to every other.

How Shipyard Workers Were Exposed

Aboard ship, everything ran hot and everything was insulated. Insulators wrapped miles of steam, feedwater, and fuel piping in asbestos pipe covering, and blocked out boilers, turbines, and machinery — cutting and fitting the material by hand in confined spaces. Bulkheads and overheads got asbestos board and, in some yards, sprayed fireproofing. Pipefitters and machinists cut and scraped asbestos gaskets and packing out of valves, pumps, and flanges throughout the machinery plant. In the enclosed compartments of a ship under construction or overhaul, this fiber had nowhere to go but into the breathing zone of everyone aboard.

The Asbestos Materials — and the Products They Came In

Exposure tracked to a handful of material types. Each links to products documented in the AsbestosIndex as allegedly asbestos-containing:

Pipe covering — wrapped and fitted on shipboard steam, feed, and fuel lines:

Block insulation & marine board — blocked out on boilers, turbines, and bulkheads:

Spray fireproofing — sprayed on overheads and structural steel in some yards:

Gaskets & packing — cut and repacked on shipboard valves, pumps, and flanges:

Browse the full Pipe Covering, Spray Fireproofing, and Marine categories for more.

Take-Home Risk to Families

Like other dusty trades, shipyard workers carried asbestos fibers home on their clothing, skin, and tools — exposing spouses and children who never worked with asbestos. See take-home asbestos exposure.

If you worked in a shipyard and were diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease after exposure to asbestos on the job, you may have a legal claim.

Product references reflect allegations documented in publicly filed asbestos litigation. This information is published by an independent media organization — not a law firm — and is educational only. It does not constitute legal advice or provide legal services.