Why Turkish shipyards are hiring from Pakistan
The Tuzla shipyard cluster east of Istanbul, along with the yards at Yalova, Altınova, and İzmir, has grown steadily as Turkey has become a significant hub for tanker, container, and special-purpose vessel construction. Order books for the major yards are multi-year. The structural constraint on output is not steel, not capital, and not berthing - it is certified welders.
6G all-position welders, pressure-vessel qualified welders, and duplex-steel-capable welders are in permanent short supply. Turkish training pipelines produce them, but not in the volumes large yards need to run production plus repair plus new-build in parallel. Importing is standard practice across the global shipbuilding industry and Pakistan is one of the major sourcing countries.
Certification levels that matter for shipyards
The certifications a shipyard will actually look for, in rough order of value:
- ASME IX / AWS D1.1 - general pressure vessel and structural steel.
- 6G position qualification - all-position pipe welding, the gold standard for rigging pipework in tight spaces.
- SMAW, GTAW/TIG, GMAW/MIG qualifications across carbon, stainless, and duplex.
- Classification society approvals - Lloyd's Register, DNV, ABS, BV. Yards working to classification need welders qualified for the specific society on the project.
Many experienced Pakistani shipyard welders carry stacked certifications from prior Gulf contracts - ADNOC, Saudi Aramco, and major shipyards in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These certs transfer to Turkish yard requirements with a re-qualification test on arrival (standard practice regardless of nationality).
Where Pakistan's shipyard welders come from
Three main feeder streams:
- Gadani ship-breaking yard - the world's third-largest ship-breaking yard, on the coast west of Karachi. Generations of welders have cut their teeth here on structural and pressure-vessel work. Expertise in heavy-plate and thick-section welding is the hallmark.
- Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) - the national shipyard, builds and repairs Pakistan Navy and commercial vessels. Formally trained welders with naval-grade certifications.
- Gulf returnees - welders with 5-15 years on Saudi, Qatari, and Emirati shipyards and oil & gas fabrication yards. The most experienced cohort.
Together these streams produce a steady flow of certified welders specifically trained for marine and pressure-vessel work, not just general structural.
How trade testing works
A reputable recruitment consultancy will run a Pakistan-side trade test before sending a candidate to interview. For shipyard welders this typically includes:
- Visual inspection of finished samples (root, fill, cap appearance).
- Documented WPS-compliant test coupons in the target positions.
- Video recording of the actual weld being made, from multiple angles.
- Review of certification paperwork including position qualifications and testing dates.
On arrival in Turkey, the yard conducts its own re-qualification against the specific project WPS. Roughly 85-90% of candidates who pass the Pakistan-side test also pass the yard's re-qualification; the remainder are typically re-tested after a few days' practice or redeployed to non-critical welds.
Plan on 2-3 days from arrival to first productive weld on the bench. Safety induction, yard orientation, and re-qualification test consume the first days. For 6G pipe welders, productive deployment from week 1 is realistic.
Deployment models
Three common deployment structures in Turkish yards:
- Direct employment - welder joins your yard's permanent workforce on a 1-2 year contract. Highest integration, most overhead.
- Project-specific contract - welder is brought in for a named vessel, with contract aligned to the build milestone plan. Common for 6-12 month peaks.
- Sub-contractor model - welder is employed by a licensed sub-contractor firm that provides to the yard. The yard gets staff without sponsoring the permit. Useful when quota constraints bind.
We typically advise direct employment for 18+ month horizons, project-specific for 6-18 month peaks, and sub-contractor arrangements for short surge capacity.
Safety induction & PPE
Turkish shipyard safety standards meet European norms and are stricter than some Gulf yards. Pakistani welders arriving from Saudi or UAE yards generally transition smoothly, but induction should cover:
- Turkish-specific permit-to-work procedures.
- Confined-space entry rules as practised in Turkish yards.
- Hot-work permits and fire watch procedures.
- Respiratory protection standards (especially for galvanised and painted steel).
- Turkish signage and emergency terminology.
Standard PPE issue is identical to local staff. Heat-stress mitigation in summer and cold-work protocols in winter should be explicitly covered.
Rotations and long-term retention
Many Pakistani shipyard welders are accustomed to rotation schedules from Gulf work - 6 months on, 1 month home leave - and appreciate when Turkish employers structure contracts similarly. A 12-month initial contract with the option of a paid return leave at month 6, plus renewal into a 2nd year, is a retention-optimising structure.
Yards that treat the welder's family logistics (sometimes helping with paperwork for family visits, for example) see materially higher renewal rates.
Typical candidate profile
Here is what a strong shortlisted candidate CV usually looks like for a Turkish shipyard role:
- Age 28-45.
- 8-15 years of welding experience, of which 4+ international.
- Qualifications in 3G and 6G across GTAW and SMAW.
- Previous employment at a Gulf shipyard or O&G fabricator.
- Basic English; Turkish will be learned on the job.
- Medical clearance; no visa rejections in the past.
- Married, family in Pakistan, financially motivated for a 1-2 year contract.