A method of aligning first and second pipes end-to-end in a position ready for welding. Each pipe has an end bevelled with a shape scanned and stored in memory of a control unit. At least one of the pipes has machine readable codes distributed around their circumference of the pipe. The method includes effecting relative movement of the ends of the first and second pipes towards each other, reading at least one of the codes with a reader, and ascertaining the relative movement required to align the pipes in accordance with a target orientation. The relative movement is ascertained with information provided by the read code and the shapes of the bevelled ends stored in the control unit memory. In other aspects, a closed loop control method and machine-learning may be used to align the pipes. A pipe-laying vessel including pipe handling equipment and the control unit is also provided.