Many ship owners and operators repair ship structures with temporary steel patches known as doublers. The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, as well as other maritime authorities, usually allow such patches until the ship’s next inspection period, which can be as long as three to five years from the date of repair. Despite this situation, there is not currently a standard for repairing steel hull ships with doublers.Subcommittee F25.01 on Structures is now working on a proposed new standard that will cover doublers: ASTM WK30649, Guide for Steel Ship Structure Repair Doubler Plate Design. The subcommittee is part of ASTM International Committee F25 on Ships and Marine Technology.