GMD Shipyard

The GMD Shipyard, in the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard, is currently the largest dry dock facility in New York City. A major facility performing ship building and repair for vessels at the ports of both New York and New Jersey since 1801, the GMD Shipyard continues to employ hundreds of personnel.

Today, the Shipyard provides both routine maintenance and emergency dry docking in accord with the standards of the American Bureau of Shipping and the U.S. Coast Guard. However, as is true of all shipyards in the U.S. and around the world, during the first two-thirds of the 20th century the GMD Shipyard did not have adequate safety provisions in place regarding asbestos.

Asbestos at the GMD Shipyard

As the technology for using asbestos as an insulating and fire-retardant material advanced at the turn of the 20th century, asbestos came to be used in hundreds of shipbuilding applications, in products such as gaskets, turbines, pumps, and boilers. The terrible fire aboard the S.S. Morro Castle in 1934 made the use of asbestos in sea-going vessels that much more widespread.

Shipyard owners and managers did not know about, or disregarded, the dangers of asbestos. When workers were exposed to asbestos dust or asbestos fibers as part of their workday, they probably did not know that they were at risk of developing life-threatening diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma and Shipyard Workers

The only confirmed cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. The incidence of mesothelioma among shipyard workers is significantly higher than the incidence in the general population. Mesothelioma often takes up to 40 years to manifest itself after asbestos exposure, and thus many people who worked in shipyards in the 1940s or later are now being diagnosed with this fatal disease.

Learn More about Your Rights

If you've been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, talk to an attorney today to discuss your legal options.