In Europa Universalis II, a shipyard is a city upgrade which gives a bonus colonist (if it is your first one) and allows the construction of large numbers of ships. Shipyards are represented on the main map by a slightly larger, gold-colored version of the standard port icons (an anchor if vacant, a ship's wheel if not vacant or actively constructing ships). Any port can shelter any number of ships, so a shipyard is never necessary. However, having one does make it possible to construct a large fleet in a short time, as the host city's shipbuilding capacity is multiplied by 10.