Shipyard agencies market the services of their client yards for repair, conversion and new construction, and typically act as a project liaison between the yard and the owner.

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. They may also be used as service platforms for marine construction and other activities. Most barges are not self-propelled and need to be moved by tugboats or towboats.

A shipyard is a place where ships are built or repaired. In addition to sites for shipyards, this category includes sites such as directories or associations of ship builders.

Naval shipyards build primarily military vessels. Naval shipyards may be navy installations, government departments, or private sector businesses.

Ship breaking, also known as ship recycling, disposal, or demolition, involves deconstructing vessels into saleable or conventionally disposable components. Most ship breaking now is done in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and China, with a small amount in Turkey. Most of these operations are technically unsophisticated, generally involving beaching the vessel under power, removing motors, electronics, and such, then cutting up the vessel's steel for scrap. Ship breaking is the source of millions of tons of steel each year. Concerns have been raised about environmental and worker safety in ship breaking yards.