Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Joseph Camilleri (Mosti)

(00:30) He starts off by recalling starting the apprenticeship, having to go to the Macina to sign an indenture together with a witness, and then they are distributed according to their Trade.

(01:30) He frequented Stella Maris school in Gzira, where he took classes that prepared them for the examinations to enter the dockyard. About 2,500 boys took the mentioned exam, out of which 250 apprentices were chosen.  At the time, Mr. Camilleri took the exam, there were 2,500 candidates where he ranked 250th, and he was advised to wait a year and take the exam again since, with his ranking, he could only join the dockyard as a yard boy. Hence, he took the exam again and ranked 113th, and was able to enter as an apprentice. 

(02:45) He was given the chance to choose a trade to specialize in and he chose to be a patternmaker, even though he did not have an idea of what it consisted of.  

They were assigned an instructor, who changed every year, for everyone to get a chance and learn different areas. They were taught by starting to make the tools, required for their trade, and given training practice on patterns to work on. This served to improve and assess their skills. 

Manager Engineering Department (MED)-they worked from the water level, downwards-they also had more advantages than the others and the Manager Constructive Department (MCD)-from the water level upwards.

(04:30) When he was terminating his apprenticeship after six years, in 1959, he received a letter, along with other dockyard worker, that “... his services are no longer required ...”. Obviously, this was a surprise after six years apprenticeship, but then they realised that it was because there was going to be a transfer of the dockyard from the Admiralty to Bailey.

(06:00) Throughout his apprenticeship, there were many instances when the workers went on strikes related to requests for pay rises, but apprentices had to still go to work normally, where they witnessed a couple of stories. Mr. Camilleri mentioned the one when a fire engine was thrown into the dock and also when one of the workers punched the Dockyard Superintendent Admiral Blake (If he remembers the name correctly).

Education-Apprenticeship process

(07:00) When Bailey took over, they were sent a letter saying that their services were no longer required and had to resign to become Bailey’s employees. At first the workers were not in favour of Bailey, but they did not have any choice.

However, after sometime, the Times of Malta reported that there was a good opportunity coming for the Dockyard worker. A contract was signed for the repairs on tankers of the Greek merchant shipping company Onassis Shipping. 

(08:30) Including super tankers, after which No.6 dock was built. At that time, he was assigned to build a model simulating the berthage and docking of the super tankers.  

(10:00) Mr. Camilleri added as well that at one point, Bailey took a lot of the machinery, for which, they had to build packing cases for the machinery to be transported.

Safety-Accidents

(10:45) After Bailey had left, it was left in the hands of the government where they went on a 9-month, sit-down strike, where they were not able to do anything on the job. During the strike, he remembers an accident that he witnessed when a worker fell into No.3 dock with his bike but fortunately nothing happened to him. A fatal accident was when a diver got the pipe from the diving equipment stuck in the ship’s water inlet pipe that was left working, during the docking. Another one he remembers was when a crew member got burnt and fell overboard when he went to assist on a tanker that had a fire. 

(13:30) A little before the organization became governmental, he had applied to become an instructor with a governmental school, partially with the dockyard & partially with the government, after which they became permanently with the government. It was then in 1972/1973 when he retired from working in the dockyard. 

(17:15) He also shared a story of how he had asked a colleague of his to help him make a small boat but not that many were willing to share their skills, as they were afraid that their job will be taken away from them.

(18:30) He added that, as patternmaker, he also learned the craft of working on rubber, such as parts needed for the submarine and O-Rings being made at the dockyard as well. 

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