I have no idea what shipyards you are talking about but here in the south most welding jobs in shipyards are some of the lowest paying in the industry.
As I’ve replied twice on this thread, shipyard welders in Mobile, Alabama make over $20.00 an hour. You guys may have a totally diffent perspective on what constitutes good pay, but I would say that’s pretty good especially with the overtime they get. There are some small piece of crap shipyards where the wages are lower, but there are two fairly big ones and one small one with a combined workforce of around 3,000 who pay over $20.00 an hour for shipyard welders with normal benefits (medical, etc.).