The list of ship launches in 1988 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 1988.
| Country | Builder | Location | Ship | Class / type | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 January |  United States | Avondale Shipyard | Avondale, Louisiana | ||||
| 20 January |  United Kingdom | Swan Hunter | Wallsend | Type 22 frigate | |||
| 23 January | United States | Electric Boat | Groton, Connecticut | ||||
| 23 January | United Kingdom | Vosper Thornycroft | Woolston | Quorn | Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel | ||
| 13 February | United States | Newport News Shipbuilding | Newport News, Virginia | ||||
| 17 February |  Japan | ||||||
| 17 March |  Finland | Wärtsilä Marine Perno shipyard | Turku | Royal Viking Sun | Cruise ship | For Royal Viking Line | |
| 18 March | Appledore Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd | Appledore | Dredger | For Hanson Aggregates Marine Ltd.[1] | |||
| 19 March | United States | Bath Iron Works | Bath, Maine | ||||
| 19 March |  France | ||||||
| 15 April | United Kingdom | Vickers Shipbuilding | Barrow-in-Furness | ||||
| 22 April | Husumer Schiffswerft GmbH | Husum | Schleswig-Holstein | ferry | For Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei Föhr-Amrum GmbH[2] | ||
| 23 April | United States | Electric Boat | Groton, Connecticut | ||||
| 30 April |  Canada | Saint John Shipbuilding | Saint John, New Brunswick | ||||
| 30 April | C. Lühring | Brake | Eversand | For German Navy | |||
| 30 April | VEB Yachtwerft Berlin | Zander | Zander-class tug | For Volksmarine | |||
| 4 June | Japan | ||||||
| 25 June | United States | Todd Pacific Shipyards | San Pedro, California | ||||
| 15 July | United States | Ingalls Shipbuilding | Pascagoula, Mississippi | ||||
| 22 July |  Turkey | Gölcük Naval Shipyard | |||||
| 31 July | Șantierul Naval Oltenița | Oltenița | Omskiy-133 | Omskiy type cargo ship | For North Western Fleet Company[3] | ||
| 8 August | Marinewerft | Gölcük | Type 209 submarine | For Turkish Naval Forces | |||
| 13 August | Brodogradevna Industrija | Split, Yugoslavia | cruiseferry | For SF Line for Viking Line traffic | |||
| 15 August | United States | Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Company | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||
| 1 September | Kröger Shipyard | Schacht-Audorf | Stollergrund | Stollengrund-class multipurpose boats | For German Navy | ||
| 12 September | Japan | ||||||
| 15 September | United States | Avondale Shipyard | Avondale, Louisiana | ||||
| 22 October | Finland | Wärtsilä Marine Perno shipyard | Turku, Finland | Athena | cruiseferry | For Rederi AB Slite for Viking Line traffic | |
| 23 October | United States | Bath Iron Works | Bath, Maine | ||||
| 11 November | Appledore Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd | Appledore | Ferry | For Mercandia Liniere I/S.[4] | |||
| 12 November | United States | Electric Boat | Groton, Connecticut | ||||
| 19 November | DCN | Brest | Foudre | Foudre-class landing platform dock | For French Navy | ||
| 3 December | United States | Avondale Shipyard | Avondale, Louisiana | ||||
| 4 December | Mykolaiv | Riga | Renamed in 1990, transferred to PLAN in 1998 | ||||
| 21 December | Japan | ||||||
| 25 December | Japan | ||||||
| Unknown date | David Abels Boatbuilders Ltd. | Bristol | Aran | Workboat | For private owner.[5] | ||
| Unknown date | David Abels Boatbuilders Ltd. | Bristol | Harvest Reaper | Fishing trawler | For private owner.[6] | ||
| Unknown date |  Netherlands | K Damen | Boven-Hardinxveld | For Islamic Republic of Iran Navy | |||
| Unknown date | David Abels Boatbuilders Ltd. | Bristol | Maid of the Forth | Ferry | For private owner.[7] | ||
| Unknown date | David Abels Boatbuilders Ltd. | Bristol | Miss Westmorland | Ferry | For Windermere Lake Cruises.[8] | ||
| Unknown date | David Abels Boatbuilders Ltd. | Bristol | Pill Hobbler | Launch | For Pill Hobbler Marine Services Ltd.[9] | ||
| Unknown date | J. Bolson & Son Ltd. | Poole | Purbeck Gem | Passenger ship | For Robert A. Hale.[10] | ||
| Unknown date | David Abels Boatbuilders Ltd. | Bristol | Surta | Steam launch | For private owner.[11] |