Asbestos Exposure in Shipyards

Why Was Asbestos Used in Shipyards?

Asbestos was used in shipyards because it resists corrosion and high temperatures. Those qualities made it ideal for shipbuilding. Asbestos insulation also was used on shipyard equipment. And builders used asbestos sheeting to construct shipyard buildings.

Many ships used asbestos to prevent fires. It insulated boilers, incinerators and steam pipes. Asbestos dust tended to build up in poorly ventilated areas. The buildup led to exposure in shipyards and on ships.

Asbestos products became more common in the mid-20th century. At the same time, experts began recognizing these products could cause diseases. Studies on the dangers of asbestos exposure date back to the 1940s. But it took decades for the U.S. government to admit that inhaled asbestos fibers could remain in the body and cause health issues. 

Possible Asbestos Exposure Sites

• Alabama Dry Dock
• Albina Shipyard
• Barbours Cut Docks
• Bethlehem Steel Shipyard
• Bremerton Naval Shipyard
• Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Caddell Dry Dock
• California Navy Shipyard
• Charleston Naval Shipyard
• Consolidated Steel Shipyards
• Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
• Defoe Shipyard
• Duwamish Shipyard
• Galveston Docks
• General Dynamics NASSCO
• GMD Shipyard
• Groton Naval Base
• Houston Shipyards
• Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
• Ingalls Shipbuilding
• Kane Shipbuilding
• Kaiser Shipyard
• Lockheed Shipyard
• Long Beach Naval Shipyard
• Moore Dry Dock
• Naval Station Everett
• Naval Weapons Station
• New York Shipbuilding Corporation
• Newport News Naval Shipyard
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard
• Orange Shipbuilding
• Pearl Harbor Shipyard
• Pensacola Naval Air Station
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
• San Diego Naval Shipyard
• San Francisco Drydock
• Seward Ships Drydock
• Sun Shipbuilding
• Tacoma Drydock
• Todd Shipyards
• Washington Navy Yard
• Willamette Iron and Steel Works

By the 1970s, the government took the health effects of asbestos more seriously. Workers began removing asbestos from ships and replacing it with safe insulation. Decommissioned ships in today’s shipyards still have old asbestos products. Some materials were temporarily encapsulated to reduce exposure risk. But it poses a hazard to decommissioning workers.

U.S. Navy Required Asbestos Use

The U.S. Navy used asbestos materials on ships long before World War II. In 1922, the Navy required asbestos to build all new submarines.

The Navy used more asbestos products than any other military branch. Asbestos was once essential on vessels, as it resisted saltwater and prevented fires. Its dangers were unknown at that time.

Types of Asbestos on Ships

• Chrysotile asbestos was used for gaskets, insulation, packing and tape.
• Amosite asbestos was used for corrosion-resistant insulation.

In 1939, the U.S. government classified asbestos as a critical material and began stockpiling it. Global demand for asbestos exceeded the supply. That supply found its way to shipyards across the U.S.

In 1932, the U.S. consumed 197 million pounds of asbestos. By 1937, it had soared to 633 million pounds. 

Millions of American Workers and Veterans Exposed

The Navy mandate to use asbestos in shipbuilding put millions of people at risk of exposure to asbestos. During World War II, about 4,500,000 men and women worked in shipyards with a high risk of asbestos exposure. 

Some jobs required shipyard workers to handle asbestos products directly. These jobs included shipfitters, machinists, maintenance workers, pipefitters, electricians, boilermakers and painters. 

Shipyard workers encountered asbestos even if they didn’t directly handle contaminated products. Cutting, sanding and fitting asbestos products around pipes and boilers released microscopic fibers into the air. They could then circulate through the shipyards and contaminate vessels that workers were repairing. 

After World War II, the number of shipyard workers fell from 1,700,000 in 1943 to about 200,000. The shipyard worker population stayed at this level until 1976. It fluctuated slightly with the economy and changing shipbuilding practices.

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U.S. Shipyards and Asbestos

As of March 2021, the U.S. had more than 154 active shipyards building vessels. It had more than 300 shipyards for repairs and decommissioning. From 1940 to 1945, the Emergency Shipbuilding Program used 50 shipyards in the war effort.

California Shipyards

California leads in shipyard asbestos exposure because it has the third-longest coastline in the U.S. and the Pacific Coast’s first dry dock.

California Shipyard Asbestos Exposure Sites

• California Naval Shipyard
• Consolidated Steel Shipyard
• General Dynamics (NASSCO)
• Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
• Moore Dry Dock
• San Diego Naval Shipyard
• San Francisco Drydock
• Long Beach Naval Shipyard

California’s natural asbestos and many shipyards make it No. 1 in the United States for mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths.

New York Shipyards

The Navy established the New York Naval Shipyard, also called the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in 1801. It produced countless historic vessels. It was decommissioned in 1966. But workers reported decades of asbestos exposure at the site’s pipe shop, boiler shop, power plant, foundries, shipways and dry docks.

New York Shipyard Asbestos Exposure Sites

• Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Caddell Dry Dock
• GMD Shipyard
• New York Shipbuilding Corporation

New York shipyards were among many asbestos-exposed sites in the state. New York City courts had to create a special division to handle asbestos lawsuits linked to old factories, buildings and shipyards. They call it the New York City Asbestos Litigation division.

Washington Shipyards

In northwestern Washington, Puget Sound was busy with naval shipbuilding during WWII. The Bremerton Naval Shipyard is the largest shipyard on the West Coast. It covers more than 1,300 acres of the sound. Reports on the dangers of asbestos at Bremerton date back to the 1940s.

Washington Shipyard Asbestos Exposure Sites

• Duwamish Shipyard
• Lockheed Shipyard
• Tacoma Drydock

A 1970 report found lung problems on X-rays of Bremerton workers exposed to asbestos. Insulators and pipefitters were the most affected. Boiler and clerical workers also had lung problems.

Oregon Shipyards

Oregon shipyards, like the Albina Engine and Machine Works, were vital to World War II shipbuilding. Albina boosted Portland’s economy and growth in the early 1900s, but it had consequences. Workers at Albina Shipyard, Swan Island Shipyard and Astoria Voyage Repair Station knew these sites as locations of asbestos exposure.

Multistate Shipyards

Several major shipbuilding companies operated various U.S. shipyards. Todd Shipyards Corporation, for example, operated yards in Brooklyn, New York; Galveston, Texas; Houston; Seattle; San Francisco; Los Angeles and New Orleans. After Vigor Industrial bought Todd in February 2011, these sites became known as Vigor Shipyards.

Kaiser Shipbuilding Company ran a notable chain of shipyards. Kaiser owned seven along the West Coast. Four were in California, one in Vancouver and two in Portland.

Research on Asbestos-Related Disease in Shipyard Workers

Decades of research have confirmed the harm of asbestos in shipyards.

• A 2021 review of medical literature on the risk of asbestos-related cancer among sailors was published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research. It included a 2020 study showing that seafarers from five Nordic countries have more than double the risk of developing mesothelioma compared to the rest of the public.
• A 2021 meta-analysis in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found a high risk of esophageal cancer in shipyard workers. Laryngeal cancer is one of the four cancers caused by asbestos. Some studies showed a low association. Others found shipyard workers are 1.6 to 2.3 times more likely to get esophageal cancer than the general public.
• A 2018 study of shipyard workers in Genoa, Italy, found many excess deaths. They were from pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, asbestosis and other respiratory diseases.

The varying degrees of risk reported in these studies result from the study groups’ exposure to different amounts and types of asbestos. Even short or long asbestos fiber lengths may affect the degree of risk a worker faces. 

Veteran Benefits for Asbestos-Related Conditions

Evidence suggests the Navy’s negligence caused asbestos exposure. But the Feres Doctrine bars veterans from suing the government for compensation. Fortunately, many veterans are eligible for disability compensation and health care benefits provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans who served in shipyards are eligible for VA benefits if they did not receive a dishonorable discharge and can prove their service exposure is the cause of their disease. 

Liability Falls on Asbestos Companies

As shipyard workers and Navy personnel developed asbestos-related diseases, they filed claims against asbestos companies. They sought compensation for medical costs and lost wages. 

As a result, asbestos product makers sued the U.S. government over liability.

Ultimately, the court held the manufacturers liable. Today, shipyard workers and veterans file mesothelioma claims against asbestos companies and trust funds, not the U.S. government.

Navy Accused of Withholding Knowledge of Asbestos Risk

As shipyard workers and Navy personnel developed asbestos-related diseases, they filed claims against asbestos companies. They sought compensation for medical costs and lost wages. 

As a result, asbestos product makers sued the U.S. government over liability.

Ultimately, the court held the manufacturers liable. Today, shipyard workers and veterans file mesothelioma claims against asbestos companies and trust funds, not the U.S. government.

Top Asbestos Supplier Blames Navy for Exposure

In July 1983, the Johns Manville Corporation accused the Navy of allowing “gross exposure to asbestos fibers” in its shipyards. It cited a classified 1944 health survey at Navy contractor Bath Ironworks, which found asbestos at 10 times the safe level. A company lawyer claimed the Navy bought asbestos from Africa. It then sold it to Johns Manville for a profit.

At the time of these allegations, the company was preparing to sue the U.S. government for $1 million. This was to recover damages paid to settle asbestos lawsuits. Johns Manville faced 20,000 lawsuits seeking nearly $40 billion in damages. 

Navy Veterans File Claims Against Asbestos Manufacturers

In addition to applying for VA benefits, many Navy veterans and former shipyard workers have turned to mesothelioma lawsuits to recover the costs associated with diagnosing an asbestos-related disease. The government cannot be responsible for asbestos exposure. But negligent manufacturers of asbestos-containing products often can be.

A 2003 Wall Street Journal article said veterans’ claims made up 26% of mesothelioma cases, 16% of lung cancer cases and 13% of disabling lung disease cases. These claims were for exposure in military and shipyard construction.

• A Washington state jury awarded $4.25 million in 2019 to former shipyard worker Douglas Everson and his wife. The couple claimed Everson’s mesothelioma was from asbestos exposure at work. He worked as a marine electrician in the 1970s at a Lockheed shipyard on Harbor Island in Washington.
• A former Virginia shipfitter won $25 million in 2011 from a lawsuit against ExxonMobil after he developed mesothelioma. While working at Newport News Shipbuilding and 17 Exxon oil tankers in the 1960s and ’70s, dangerous levels of asbestos exposed Bert Minton. He claimed Exxon knew of the mineral’s health risks. It failed to warn or protect shipyard workers and crew members. Exxon’s neglect resulted in one of the largest jury verdicts given in Virginia.
• Similarly, the family of a career naval machinist who died of mesothelioma in 2006 was awarded $5.2 million after it was determined that Foster Wheeler Corp., a New Jersey engineering and construction firm, did not disclose asbestos risks. Richard Walmach spent most of his 37-year career at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington. There, Walmach had to remove asbestos insulation from Foster Wheeler’s boilers. They also supplied the Navy with steam generators and other power equipment.

Shipyard workers who suspect asbestos exposure should tell their doctors and request tests for asbestos-related illnesses. Documenting your asbestos exposure history in case you develop a condition is also wise. 

If you have legal questions about compensation, consult a mesothelioma attorney. They can advise you on your options based on your diagnosis and exposure history.

Common Questions About Asbestos in Shipyards

When did shipyards ban asbestos?

Asbestos is not banned in U.S. shipyards. In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tried to ban all asbestos products. It became a partial ban that included only six products.

Why do shipyards have asbestos?

Asbestos was used to build ships because it is naturally resistant to saltwater corrosion and effective at preventing fires on vessels. Asbestos insulation was used on shipyard equipment. Asbestos sheets were a cheap way to build shipyard buildings.

Do shipyards still use asbestos?

Shipyards may be importing asbestos gaskets or brakes. But this information is not public. No U.S. agency is required to track asbestos imports. It is not likely that shipyards have imported asbestos products in recent years.

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