Ship Repair & Marine Fabrication
Ship repair in Liverpool and across Merseyside is the trade MSR was built on — the company name, Merseyside Ship Repairers, says as much. Founded in Bootle in 1987 by three former Seaforth Welding fabricators, we work on vessels, pontoons and dockside structures: hull plating, marine walkways, fendering, deck fittings. Two factories give us the bay space for large fabrications, and site teams handle the parts of a repair that can’t come off the vessel.
What we deliver
- Hull plate renewal and insert repairs, mild steel and stainless, cut and formed to match existing frame spacing and thickness
- Rudders, skegs and stern gear brackets fabricated to pattern and fitted on site or in dry dock
- Steel gangways, brows and access ramps, galvanised or painted finish, built to suit tidal rise and fall
- Fendering and bollard fabrication for quays and dockside berths
- Deck fittings, hatch coamings, ladders and handrails in mild steel or stainless
- Ballast tank and bulkhead repairs, welded and pressure-tested before handover
- Marine walkways and pontoon steelwork, cut and welded to drawing
- Site welding and burning carried out afloat or dockside, for repairs that can't be brought into the factory
How we work
- 01
Survey and scope
We inspect the vessel or dockside structure, take plate thicknesses and measurements, and agree what's being repaired versus replaced before any steel is cut.
- 02
Fabricate
Cutting, forming and welding happen in the Bootle factories where the job allows, or on site and dockside where the vessel can't be moved.
- 03
Fit and finish
Steelwork is installed, welded out, and coated or galvanised as specified, with sign-off before handover.
Two factories in Bootle, 22,000 sq ft between them, give us the bay space to fabricate large plate and structural sections under cover before they go to a vessel or dockside. Ship repair work travels out across the UK and Ireland, not just the Mersey.
Where we work
Most ship repair and dockside work keeps us close to the Mersey itself — Liverpool's docks and the Wirral waterfront — but marine fabrication jobs have taken us as far as North Wales, wherever there's a quay, a vessel or a harbour structure that needs steel put right.
FAQ
Common questions.
Do you work on vessels in dry dock or afloat?
Both. Hull and below-waterline repairs need dry dock access, but deck fittings, gangways and dockside steelwork we can fabricate and fit with the vessel still in the water.
What size of vessel do you work on?
From small workboats and pontoons up to commercial and dock support vessels. The constraint is usually crane capacity and access at the quay, not the size of the job.
Can you match existing plate and fittings?
Yes. We work from the existing structure or from drawings, cutting and forming new plate to match frame spacing, thickness and profile so the repair sits flush.
Do you cover ports outside Liverpool?
Yes. MSR works across the UK and Ireland, and marine jobs take us to other ports and dockside sites well beyond Merseyside.
Tell us what you need fabricated.
Structural, architectural or tunnelling steelwork — send drawings or a rough spec and we’ll come back with a straight answer.