Shipbuilding Workers

How to become a Ship Hull Fabricator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 金属船体制造工

Also called: Hull Loftsman, Hull Cold Forming Worker, Hull Heat Line Bender, Hull Assembler, Arc Air Gouger, Ship Painter, Shipyard Heavy Crane Operator, Shipyard Rigger, Ship Gas Welder, Ship Electric Arc Welder

Uses equipment and tools to turn marine metal into hull parts, components and blocks, then joins them into a complete hull.

Main tasks

Lofting the hull lines, shell plating and structural members, making templates and template boxes, sketching and marking out material
Cutting marine metal with cutting equipment and tools
Running machines to shape the edges of plates and sections
Making ship parts and straightening pressure vessels, hull structures and offshore structures
Assembling parts, components, blocks and hulls, and pressure vessels and offshore structures
Welding marine metal, hull sections, piping and outfitting parts, and pressure vessels and offshore structures
Gouging, planing and grooving welds, removing weld defects and taking metal structures apart
Testing hull structures, blocks, pressure vessels and offshore structures for tightness with special tools or equipment
Pretreating metal and removing rust from and painting hull structures
Lifting members, blocks, pressure vessels, large equipment and fittings with special cranes and lifting gear, turning and placing blocks on the slipway or in dock, and helping with launching, mooring and moving in and out of dock

Ways in

Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Intelligent Ship Welding Technology (460504). Vocational major 460504 Intelligent Ship Welding Technology (船舶智能焊接技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Special Operations Personnel; Special Equipment Inspection; Testing Personnel Qualification; Special Welding Technology.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Marine Electrical Engineering Technology (460503). Vocational major 460503 Marine Electrical Engineering Technology (船舶电气工程技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Intelligent Production Line Control and Maintenance; Programmable Controller System Application Programming.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Marine Power Engineering Technology (460502). Vocational major 460502 Marine Power Engineering Technology (船舶动力工程技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Computer Technology and Software Professional Qualification; Mechanical Digital Design and Manufacturing.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Ship Engineering Technology (460501). Vocational major 460501 Ship Engineering Technology (船舶工程技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Special Welding Technology; Intelligent Production Line Control and Maintenance.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Hull Construction and Repair Technology (660501). Vocational major 660501 Hull Construction and Repair Technology (船体修造技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Special Welding Technology.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Intelligent Shipbuilding Technology (260501). Vocational major 260501 Intelligent Shipbuilding Technology (船舶智能制造技术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Special Welding Technology; Intelligent Production Line Control and Maintenance.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Marine Electrical Engineering Technology (260503). Vocational major 260503 Marine Electrical Engineering Technology (船舶电气工程技术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Intelligent Production Line Control and Maintenance; Programmable Controller System Application Programming.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Marine Power Engineering Technology (260502). Vocational major 260502 Marine Power Engineering Technology (船舶动力工程技术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Mechanical Digital Design and Manufacturing; Network Security Services.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥80,500 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥56,100 to CN¥119,300. One in ten earn less than CN¥46,300 and one in ten more than CN¥151,200.
This is the figure for the mid group Railway, Ship and Aerospace Equipment Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥116,955 a year (2025), middle half CN¥60,272 to CN¥148,272.
This is the figure for the mid group Railway, Ship and Aerospace Equipment Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Railway, Ship and Aerospace Equipment Manufacturing Workers holds 0.08% of everyone employed in China; 24.3% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
38.4% are under 35, 54% are 35 to 54 and 7.6% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Ship Hull Fabricator?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Intelligent Ship Welding Technology (460504); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Marine Electrical Engineering Technology (460503).

How much does a Ship Hull Fabricator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥80,500 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Railway, Ship and Aerospace Equipment Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥116,955 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Ship Hull Fabricator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026