Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Paul Attard

(00:30) During his 4th year at the Lyceum secondary school, his friend Toni Coleiro pushed him to sit for the dockyard examinations. The examinations consisted of an aptitude test, medical test and then an interview which he passed. He spent his first year at the apprentice training centre where they used to learn different trades for 2 months on each.

The training centre consisted of various very big underground workshops.

(03:30) After the first year learning the different trades, every apprentice had to give their choice on which trade he wanted to pursue. He opted for a steel worker, preferably a shipwright and was appointed accordingly. Then, he worked at different shops such as plate shop, boilershop, pre-fabrication, and continued to attend a 2-month course at the drawing office. In the meantime, he attended at the ‘technical institute’ where he achieved his intermediate and afterwards spent a year at Polytechnic at Msida. Finally, he finished the apprenticeship and started as a journeyman.

He recalls that during his apprenticeship, there was the closure of the Suez Canal, and the shipyard was affected negatively. Then when the Suez Canal reopened, the yard started again to get work. He also recalls that when they finished their apprenticeship, there was a 7-month strike, where there was no work.

When the strike finished, he was sent with a chargeman nicknamed “Salazar”. He was allocated with a good tradesman Fredu from Cospicua, who showed Paul how to work as well as some tricks of the trade.  

(08:30) He spent five years as ‘primalista’ but when it came to sit for the exam for a chargeman he decided otherwise and went back to his initial decision to stay as a shipwright.

(09:15) When he first entered the dockyard, there were about 4,000 people yet as time went by people started decreasing. People used to get on very well with each other. For instance, during his time as a shipwright afloat there always used to be a welder and burner separately. Eventually, as they all got equal pay, they were considered to be one as welders/burners. Therefore, they used to substitute each other as they took their breaks and in doing so, he learned both welding and burning.

Safety-Accidents 

(10:15) He recalls when the dock arm of the No.6 dock collapsed and how he was lucky to avoid it. He was working in No.6 dock and had luckily gone up from the dock to get something and at that moment he heard a loud crash and turned running to see what happened, only to find that the dock arm of No.6 dock has collapsed. This accident leftfourworkers dead.

(10:30) He also remembers the death of Ganni Micallef who was cutting a steel plate and all of a sudden it gave way and hit him. 

(11:45) One of the jobs where a shipwright shows his knowledge of the trade is when he makes a template of a steel plate of the ship (meta jiġi biex jingalva pjanċa). Basically, this requires the shipwright to make a wooden shape of the plate. This frame is generally about 2 inches smaller than the final shape of the plate. This frame is fixed in place of the plate to be renewed, and the final fitted shape is made by the addition of a sort of spacer (boska), When completed the finished template is taken by hand to the plateshop ant the steel plate is cut to its shape. Sometime the plates were shaped in two or even three dimensions, so the shipwright had to give and define the shaping of the plate.

(13:30) When he started as a shipwright, their ablutions were situated underground in the area of No.4 dock. The place was very humid and they were always asking for a new box-rack. However, he said that he spent in this rack between 1969 up to 1992, when their rack was transferred to a better rack in the area of the No.3 dock.

Safety-Um El Faroud 

(14:15) He remembers the worst tragedy in the yard. He remembers that since his birthday was coming, he was taking a cake to share with his co-workers, and when he arrived, the yard was closed and he got to know that the Um El Faroud exploded in No.3 dock. Then he went to Senglea to see the ship in the dock from the bastions.

(15:45) Sometime later, he volunteered to go work to Manoel Island for a year as they required some shipwrights to work there. He recalls that the experience was different there as the work was not as heavy as there were also less workers.

Entering the dockyard-Dockyard layout

(16:15) After his year at Manoel Island he was sent back to the dockyard. At this point in time, the authorities had decided to make 900 workers redundant, and it was a very strange situation as they were told that during the weekend there were going to receive a letter whereby, they would either be confirmed to stay at the dockyard or else they were going to be made redundant (jew barra jew gewwa), and no one knew who the 900 were going to be. They were only to find out when they received a letter and he was one of those who were made redundant. He felt disappointed by this decision. He was given some time to go get his personal belongings and that was the last day he stepped foot in the dockyard. He was given the option to join and work with the local councils, but since he was nearing the early retirement, he did not accept the work. This was 18 years ago.

(17:45) Back to the Shipwrights work, Paul explains that when they needed to change a highly shaped plate, for example on the bulbous bow, they used to create a cradle mold, with steel flat bars that are shaped to the shape of the original plate.

(18:30) The shipwright used to work along the whole ship, from aft ot forward and from the chine to the mast (minn poppa sa pruwa u miċ-ċan sal-arblu tal-bandiera). Their work related to everything that related to steel, plates and also wood. He recalls the work done on the ‘Sea Princess’ which required the renewal of the wood decking. He learned the rules of decking from the foreman known as Zammit. They used to get their teak wood material from the boathouse and take them back on board for fitting. He also mentions that the most common and easiest task of a shipwright was that of replacing the zinc anodes on the hull of the ship.

(20:30) He recalls that when he started there was a lack of safety measures. There were no safety shoes, no earmuffs, yet he was given a helmet. 

Entering the dockyard-Trades (From approval to the departure of a vessel)

(21:00) During his time as a shipwright, he used to frequently work in tankers. He did not particularly favour work in tanks. This was a difficult job, even just going to the workplace on the ship. People who did not work in the shipyard, think that when we speak of tanks, we are talking of small ones, whereas the tanks on a ship are enormous and, it is difficult to imagine their size. 

Entering the dockyard-Trades (From approval to the departure of a vessel)

(22:30) He states that work in double bottom found in dry cargo vessels was even more challenging than work in tankers. The double bottom tanks on a ship served as a safety space in case of bottom damage to the ship, as this kept the required buoyancy. He describes the double bottom as a confined space which is closed for months, and is rusted and dirty. He had to carry with him his tools, temporary lighting with its wire and the welding wire.

 

(23:30) He recalls an accident that happened to him. It was during a night shift when he was at a lower level of a scaffolding fixing a guard on a sounding pipe using small bolts and nuts. Someone working on the upper level had dropped a small bolt by accident and hit him in his face, breaking a tooth. He started bleeding externally as well as internally. At the surgery they told him that he was lucky that the bolt did not hit his eye.

Family and Social Life-Friendships between workers 

(24:30) Celebrations: He does not remember the parties that were celebrated during the Admiralty times. But then on Christmas Eve, they used to have the afternoon off, so then the workers started organising between themselves a lunch in some restaurant or hotel, after they finished at noon. He remembers that during the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Duluri), a mass was celebrated in one of the workshops during the break time.

(27:45) With the new box-rack, the were considerably relieved considering the bad conditions that they were used to in the old underground. This was in 1992. They had good and clean facilities. They could even have a radio, which was not possible at the underground.

Safety-Health and Safety procedures 

(28:00) He mentions the issue of the asbestos when no one showed any concern. He remembers during 1976/77 when they were building the 2 Chinese ships and they insulated the cabins above the engine room for soundproofing. The insulation was asbestos slabs which were cut with a handsaw to be fitted in place and their only protection was wearing a medical mask as a precaution. He says that the luggers that used to work on asbestos insulation practically all died of asbestos.

Looking back-Reflections

(29:45) Paul thanks the good God that he finished in good health. Now he is enjoying his retirement. In the shipyard, you get help from different people on all type of work. There was also a lot of solidarity between the workers.