Im pretty sure this has always been the case the ship actually spawns on the shipyard tile then moves 1 tile. I think the default direction is northeast
Nope, this is new behavior as of 1.8. Before you would get a "free" movement point when a ship was constructed and launched from a shipyard. Either in default direction or via a Rally Point right next to a shipyard in the preferred direction.
What is happening in 1.8 is that the ship actually travels from the tile that the shipyard occupies and then moves.
