Welding is one of the most critical operations within ship construction. When welds fail, often the whole structure fails. Fortunately, over sixty years of research and development in the field of welding has provided current ship builders with fabrication processes that are readily automated, can produce consistent welds reliably, and/or can weld thick sections in a single pass for controlled distortion. The expectation of weld quality has never been higher. This paper summarizes how consistent weld quality is achieved in practice, through classification society rules, welding procedure qualification, welder certification and weld monitoring and control.
