Abrasive Blasting in Shipyards

Abrasive blasting removes old paint and other surface materials that build up, such as rust, mill scale, dirt, and salts. Abrasive blasting is commonly used in the shipbuilding and ship repair industries, and is the most significant source of shipyard waste and pollution. Vessel fabrication involves abrasive blasting in the preparation of piping, steel plates, and steel members used in the structural assemblies. Maintenance and repair operations include blasting as a means of both cleaning surfaces and preparing them for painting.

Abrasive blasting may take place in a variety of locations in a shipyard, including in a blast building, an enclosure erected around the blast area to help contain the debris and contaminated air, on a dry dock, on a floating dry dock, on a graving dock, in shipways, in vessel sections, on the ground, on board a vessel, and at the pier. During abrasive blasting in shipyards, the abrasive material is held in a blast pot connected to a blasting hose. Compressed air from an air tank connected to the blast pot propels the abrasive material through the hose to a nozzle, which is held by an operator. The operator manually directs the nozzle to the surface that is being cleaned. Workers may also use automated abrasive blasting machines to perform the work.

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