In 24 years of ocean service, crabbing in December also, my old riveted Starcraft has never had a loose rivet. The Pacific Coast north of Cape Mendocino and south of Coos Head is not very pacific. The access to open ocean is over bars. The Rogue River bar at Gold Beach is legendary. The Starcrafts are the proven boats, I believe of the Walleye fisherman on the Great Lakes which I believe blows up as steep and quick as any water in North America.
The technology of tig welding has improved over the years, but I am not aware of any welded aircraft, I personally have ridden tens of thousands of miles in Alaska and the Aleutians in my company's DC-3, it was 50 years old when they bought it.
Finally. Someone gets it. Tip of the hat sir...
Wrong
The reason for a riveted hull over a welded comes down to weight. If you want or need a light boat you go with a riveted hull, if weight isn't a factor and you want less worries you go welded. Edit: Second reason for a lot of people is price. A riveted hull is cheaper in general terms.
Aircraft structures are not welded because of load distribution. A weld the load is all in one place directly on the weld. A riveted (to include all fastener types) structure transfers the load to the entire structure. Seams are overlapped and in most cases terminate at a Bulkhead, Longerons, strings, stiffeners, and other heavy aircraft fittings. Show me a cargo ship that isn't welded!
All fasteners loosen over time from both load and temperature changes. Boat hull rivets absolutely loosen and leak!
