Marine, Shipbuilding & Boat Manufacturing worked example

Shipyard Bay Capacity at 61% bay utilization rate: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop bay utilization rate to 61%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Calculate annual vessel throughput for a shipyard or boatbuilding facility based on number of production bays, average build cycle time per vessel, and facility utilization rate.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Number of production bays: 4 bays (held at the documented default)
  • Average build cycle time: 12 weeks / vessel (held at the documented default)
  • Bay utilization rate: 61 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 85)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Available bay-weeks per year = bays x 52 weeks x utilization rate / 100.
  • Effective throughput works out to 0.2 vessels / yr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Raw throughput works out to 0.33 vessels / yr at these inputs.
  • Efficiency works out to 61 % at these inputs.
  • Runtime works out to 12 hr at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where bay utilization rate sits at 85% and the headline result is 0.28 vessels / yr, this scenario comes in 28.24% below the baseline at 0.2 vessels / yr.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to bay utilization rate, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It assumes all bays are interchangeable and cycle time is uniform; mixed vessel sizes, shared labor, and outfitting quay constraints can lower real throughput.

Results at a glance

  • Effective throughput: 0.2 vessels / yr (headline result)
  • Raw throughput: 0.33 vessels / yr
  • Efficiency: 61 %
  • Runtime: 12 hr

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Shipyard Bay Capacity calculator, set bay utilization rate to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.