Hundreds of car owners were raging after vehicles parked at Rosyth dockyard were sprayed with metallic grit.
Up to 500 motors were damaged when the abrasive substance became airborne during shotblasting of a barge by workers for Babcock.
It is estimated the repair bill faced by Babcock could run up to £150,000, costing £200 to £300 per vehicle.
The defence contractor assured owners affected they would be reimbursed.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “We’re aware some vehicles may have been accidentally affected by the overspray of painting operations.
“We’re liaising with those vehicle owners and have put in place further safeguarding measures around our operation.”
Owners returned to their vehicles to find them covered in ‘gunk’ after workers had been cleaning the boat on November 8 and 9 with what is believed to have been a copper-based shot.
Shot-blasting removes rust and corrosion on boat hulls, using compressed air and an abrasive material such as copper, aluminium or zinc.
The metallic grit sprayed onto the vehicles will require specialist removal.
Last week Babcock International Group announced it was to axe 250 jobs at the Fife yard.
It aims to cut posts through voluntary redundancy and redeployment.
Affected are 104 blue collar jobs and 146 back office and support posts.