The skilled builders and mechanics who construct, repair, and maintain ships and boats.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Shipyard Program Manager: Runs the multi-year, multi-billion-dollar effort to build a class of ships. Typical pay $150k.
Ship Repair Superintendent: Leads repair and overhaul projects when ships come into a shipyard or dry dock. Typical pay $120k.
Shipyard Safety & Health Director: Keeps thousands of shipyard workers safe from falls, fires, confined spaces, and toxic fumes. Typical pay $120k.
Drydock Master: Plans and runs the delicate process of floating ships into a drydock and setting them down on blocks. Typical pay $120k.
Certified Marine Chemist: Tests the air inside ship tanks and holds for explosive or toxic gas and signs the certificate that makes welding there safe. Typical pay $130k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Shipfitter: Cuts, shapes, and fits giant steel plates together to build ship hulls. Typical pay $58k.
Marine Electrician: Wires ships and boats, from navy carriers to yachts. Typical pay $62k.
Marine Pipefitter: Installs the miles of pipe that carry fuel, water, steam, and hydraulics through a ship. Typical pay $62k.
Shipwright: A skilled builder who repairs boats and sets ships up in dry dock. Typical pay $58k.
Marine Diesel Mechanic: Repairs and rebuilds the diesel engines on tugs, fishing boats, ferries, and yachts. Typical pay $60k.
Yacht Rigger: Builds and tunes the masts, wires, and lines that hold up a sailboat's sails. Typical pay $58k.
Shipyard Rigger: Plans and rigs the lifts that move giant ship sections, engines, and propellers around a shipyard. Typical pay $63k.
Yacht Joiner: Builds the curved cabinets, paneling and furniture inside yachts, where nothing is square and everything must survive waves. Typical pay $58k.
Starter: fastest way in
Marine Machinist: Machines and installs shafts, propellers, pumps, and engines on ships. Typical pay $53k.
Fiberglass Boat Builder: Builds boats by layering fiberglass and resin in big molds. Typical pay $43k.
Wooden Boatbuilder: Builds and restores classic wooden boats by hand at boat shops and boatyards, steam-bending frames, planking hulls and finishing woodwork. Typical pay $48k.
Sailmaker: Designs, cuts, and sews sails for sailboats and racing yachts. Typical pay $46k.
Shipyard Apprentice: Gets paid to learn a shipbuilding trade while earning college credit. Typical pay $48k.
Marine Insulator: Installs insulation on ship pipes, engine rooms, and living spaces to control heat, fire, and noise. Typical pay $49k.
Ship Recycling Worker: Takes apart old ships piece by piece, cutting steel with torches so it can be recycled. Typical pay $54k.
Propeller Repair Technician: Fixes bent and chewed-up boat propellers by heating, hammering, welding and balancing them back to exact shape. Typical pay $48k.
Yacht Brightwork Varnisher: Sands and brushes on layer after layer of varnish to make a yacht’s teak and mahogany trim glow like glass. Typical pay $48k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.