Marine Adhesives vs Welding at Southampton International Boat Show 2026

On Tuesday 22 September, TECHSiL and 3M are taking to The Boating Stage at the Southampton International Boat Show for a practical discussion about adhesives, tapes, welding and riveting in modern marine construction.

We will be challenging some long-held assumptions about how boats should be assembled and repaired. There will be multiple live demonstrations, expert insight from people who work with these technologies every day, and an honest look at where adhesives and tapes belong in marine manufacturing.

Welding and riveting will remain essential across the marine industry. However, they are no longer the only credible options available to designers, builders and repair professionals.

Book your Southampton International Boat Show ticket and join us at The Boating Stage at 13:30 on Tuesday 22 September. The session is included with admission to the show.

Event details

Session: Sticking to Welding in Marine Build and Repair: The Role of Tapes and Adhesives in Modern Marine Construction
Date: Tuesday 22 September 2026
Time: 13:30 to 14:15
Location: The Boating Stage, Southampton International Boat Show, Mayflower Park
Admission: Included with your Southampton International Boat Show ticket

Is welding always the right choice for a marine joint?

For many structural marine applications, the answer will be yes. Welding delivers proven strength and remains the established joining method for many metal structures. Rivets and mechanical fasteners also provide dependable, inspectable joints and can make future disassembly easier.

There are other marine applications where reaching automatically for a welder, drill or rivet gun can introduce unnecessary complications.

Drilling in marine applications creates holes that may need sealing and can produce local stress concentrations. Welding introduces heat, which can distort thinner materials, damage finished surfaces and restrict the combinations of materials that can be joined. Mechanical fasteners can add weight, require access from both sides and leave visible fixing points.

A correctly specified adhesive or tape can provide a different approach. Depending on the joint, these technologies can distribute stress across a wider area, join dissimilar materials, accommodate movement and create a clean finish without visible fixings.

Product selection, surface preparation, joint design and process control all affect the final result.

What can adhesives and tapes change in marine construction?

Modern vessels increasingly combine aluminium, stainless steel, GRP, carbon composites, plastics, glass, wood and painted surfaces. Each material behaves differently under load, temperature change, vibration and environmental exposure.

That makes the joining method an important design decision.

In a suitable marine application, adhesives and tapes can help manufacturers and repair teams:

• Join dissimilar materials that would be difficult or impossible to weld
• Avoid heat distortion and damage to coatings or decorative surfaces
• Remove the need to drill through panels and substrates
• Spread loads across the bonded area
• Allow controlled movement between materials with different expansion rates
• Reduce the number of visible fasteners
• Create cleaner exterior and interior finishes
• Combine bonding and sealing within the same assembly stage
• Simplify selected production and repair processes
• Support lightweight designs by reducing brackets and mechanical fixings

These benefits apply across a wide range of potential applications, including panel attachment, interior fit-out, trims, stiffeners, windows, deck components, equipment mounting and selected structural assemblies.

The suitability of any adhesive or tape depends on the complete application. Load direction, joint geometry, substrate condition, temperature, saltwater exposure, UV, vibration, required service life and production timings must all be considered.

Structural adhesives or bonding tapes?

Liquid structural adhesives and high-performance bonding tapes solve different problems.

Marine Structural adhesives can provide high-strength bonds across metals, composites and plastics. Different chemistries offer varying levels of strength, flexibility, impact resistance, gap filling and environmental durability. They can be particularly useful where surfaces are uneven or where the joint needs a defined level of flexibility.

Bonding tapes provide a consistent bond-line thickness and immediate contact across the joint. They can support fast, clean assembly without the curing and dispensing stages associated with many liquid adhesives. Products such as 3M VHB tapes are already used across marine and transportation applications for attaching panels, trims and other components.

The right answer may also involve a combination of methods. An adhesive or tape can sometimes work alongside mechanical fasteners, allowing each technology to handle the loads and process requirements it is best suited to manage.

Our panel will examine how these choices are made and what engineers should establish before moving from a traditional joining method for marine applications.

More than a panel discussion

We could spend 45 minutes talking about technical data, load values and adhesive chemistry. We would rather show you what modern bonding can do.

During the session, we will run multiple practical demonstrations and put bonded materials under pressure. You will be able to see how different joining approaches behave, what happens when a bond is pushed towards failure and why judging an adhesive purely by how it looks can be misleading.

Expect us to break samples, challenge assumptions and answer difficult questions.

The aim is to give boat builders, designers and repair professionals information they can use when assessing real applications. We will also be open about the limitations. Some joints should be welded. Some should be riveted or mechanically fastened. Others may be better suited to a structural adhesive, tape or hybrid assembly.

Meet the panel

The discussion brings together commercial, marine and application engineering experience from TECHSiL and 3M:

Andy Sabine, Technical Sales Manager at TECHSiL

Andy will bring the TECHSiL perspective, drawing on our experience of helping manufacturers assess, select and implement adhesives and tapes in demanding industrial applications as well as answering the technical questions. 

Lyndon Davies, Account Manager for Defence and Marine at 3M

Lyndon works directly with customers across the defence and marine sectors, supporting the use of 3M technologies in applications that demand reliable performance and long-term durability.

David Cotterell, Senior Application Engineer and European Adhesive Specialist at 3M

David will provide the application engineering perspective, explaining how substrate, joint design, load, environment and production requirements influence adhesive selection and final bond performance.

Together, the panel will look beyond broad claims and focus on what makes a bonded marine joint work in practice.

Who should attend?

This session is designed for anyone involved in how marine vessels are designed, built, fitted out or repaired, including:

• Boat builders and marine manufacturers
• Design engineers and naval architects
• Production and process engineers
• Repair yards and maintenance teams
• Interior fit-out specialists
• Installers and fabricators
• Technical buyers and procurement teams
• Vessel owners planning repairs or refits

If you are reviewing build times, vessel weight, material choices, joint durability or the appearance of finished assemblies, this discussion should give you several useful questions to take back to your team.

Join TECHSiL and 3M at Southampton International Boat Show

The Southampton International Boat Show runs from 18 to 27 September 2026 at Mayflower Park. Our panel takes place on Tuesday 22 September from 13:30 to 14:15 on The Boating Stage.

The session is included with your show admission, but you will need a valid ticket to enter the event.

Book your ticket for Southampton International Boat Show 2026, add the session to your schedule and arrive at The Boating Stage before 13:30.

If someone else in your business is responsible for marine design, production or repair, please send this article to them and invite them along.

Can’t make the session? Explore our marine adhesives, sealants and tape solutions, or contact our technical team to arrange a complimentary consultation about your application.