Do you like to live dangerously? Do you consider your luck to be very good? Hopefully, you have answered “yes” to both these questions if boat building careers or a job as a shipwright is part of your job search. A career as a boat builder is actually a highly dangerous career. In fact, the boat builder job is considered to include some of the most hazardous job activities possible. So during your shipwright career planning process, you should really ask yourself if you are comfortable with danger.

The shipbuilding industry itself is actually a very large one. The National Marine Manufacturers Association calculated the number of boats to be about 1,276,80. There is a lot of demand currently for a wide variety of types of boats, and therefor jobs for boat builders, and careers for shipwrights.

 

So what is the difference between a boat builder job and shipwright careers? A shipwright is more commonly called upon to help design as well as build the boat. This can be any type of ship-large or small. Boats being designed by a shipwright could include large size boats like barges, as well as smaller ships including kayaks, canoes, and houseboats.

 

If you are working a shipwright career, you will be expected to come up with design ideas and build blueprints. Sounds safe so far, right? Well, not really, because your next step would be to get out there on the shipyard and start you job building boats.

You will show up to work, hopefully in good shape, and spend most of the day working with your hands. This could include anything from cutting and forming parts of the boat, to attaching metal parts to the boat. You might also cut defective areas off the boat, assemble hull timbers, measure lumber, and read blueprints. Do you think you can do this? Yes? Well, how about over the noise from chipping, grinding, and the use of power equipment. And can you do this while navigating through electrical hazards?

 

Remember if you work a boat builder job, you are on a boat (where it is WET) and you are going to be working with electrical equipment. This is definitely a concept that you want to keep firmly implanted in your mind when planning a possible shipwright career. As we all know, water and electrical equipment do not mix well.

 

Now, all the while as you are performing these tasks, you will also be avoiding respiratory hazards (like from painting, asbestos, or welding). And on top of all of that, you could always just have something large from an overhead load on a crane drop right on your head. Are you starting to get the idea why a boat building and shipwright career is one of the most dangerous jobs around?