Shipyard The construction of ships and other floating boats is known as shipbuilding. It is often carried out at a specialized facility called as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also known as shipwrights, practice a specialized trade that dates back before recorded history. They have built vessels for the military, commerce, and entertainment throughout the world. Shipyard has been used to describe large-scale industrial manufacturing facilities responsible for designing, constructing, and repairing aircraft, spacecraft, submarines, and related equipment. These facilities are usually based near major aerospace industry centers. They commonly use modular design techniques where parts are assembled by robots on site rather than being manufactured in a factory away from the vehicle being repaired or constructed. Shipyards have been important to naval warfare since the beginning of civilization. Although ancient ships were typically made of wood, most cultures developed some form of metal shipbuilding during their evolution. Advanced civilizations such as those in Mesopotamia and Egypt built large fleets of wooden ships using well-established building practices that included using the shape of the hull to mold the body of the timber frame into specific shapes. However, many cultures did not rely solely on wood for their ships. For example, the Phoenicians used both wood and stone to build their ships. During the Age of Discovery, European countries built large numbers of ships for their colonial empires.