Founded in 1978, North Florida Shipyards, Inc. is a ship repair and conversion company. The company works mostly on cargo ships, passenger vessels, tankers, offshore supply vessels, and offshore yachts. Although it was built near the time when asbestos ceased being used in shipbuilding, North Florida Shipyards, Inc. still had several years during which it exposed the employees to it. Asbestos would be used on ships to insulate boilers, hot pipes, incinerators, and steam pipes. It is worthy of note that 1 in 500 shipyard workers was in charge of insulating various parts of the ship, which placed the person at very serious risk of asbestos exposure. During World War II, 4.5 million people worked in shipyard occupations that may have involved asbestos exposure.