Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Philip Pace

(00:30) He joined the dockyard as an apprentice in 1970. He attended secondary school at Naxxar and also obtained his GCEs. He states that before he joined the dockyard nothing really interested him, not even learning how to fit a plug. 

The induction centre worked in a way where they spend one month on each of the trades of electrical work, woodwork, welding, sheet metal and one at the foundry (probably he meant smithery). Then they did a month and a half bench fitting, and another month and a half in lathe. It was well organised.

One problem he encountered was that at the time of his exams, there was the change from ‘imperial’ to ‘metric’ system, and this affected his learning especially in the subject of technical drawing. He was affected because he was about to sit for his exams and the syllabus was altered.

(04:15) In his entry, there were about 45 apprentices and he was the only joiner. Due to the situation at that time, he was allocated to work on shipbuilding.

Education-Dockyard school 

(04:30) The apprenticeship was good because they learned about their trade with very good instructors. He had a small incident, because he knew woodworking terms in English, so when once he was at the boathouse with the instructor, he told him to pass him the ‘gulierm’ (Maltese word for rebate plane), and Philip thought his instructor was joking, but he then realised that he was serious, and when he asked him which tool he was referring to, he realised that he only knew its name in English.

(06:30) One thing which inspired him a lot was that before they get assigned to a job, they get a paper and have to write down all the phases of the job. This was a way of planning the work which he considered very important.

Education-Apprenticeship process 

(07:45) He mentions how the difference in age between him and the other workers affected him. This is because they had more experience than him.

(08:00) His work colleagues also remembered various historical phases of management under the Admiralty, Bailey and Swan Hunter.

He saw that the machines that there were in the boathouse were old and he believed that it was time for an upheaval. He tried to push forward more modern systems but they did not let him, as they thought that he will soon take their place. 

Education-Apprenticeship process 

(09:45) He states that the apprenticeship gave him a certain structure, and nowadays he sees that structure no longer exists. In 1970s trade schools were established, and it was a good system and made learning easier, as the students learned skills slowly and the right way. 

(11:15) He mentions the episode of when a plane crashed in Zabbar. On that day he was working in No.3 Dock.

Another episode he recalls is when they assassinated the King of Saudi Arabia.

Certain incidents that remind him the date and place of where he was.

Safety-Accidents

(11:15) One example is when they were excavating for the construction of Dock No.6 and he went to see the first four controlled explosions. It was a disaster as the wall between the boat house and area of the explosions collapsed, even affecting the store room in the boathouse. 

(12:30) He had the opportunity to attend a course in Yugoslavia. In November 1975, there was a call for applications for a training course in Yugoslavia or Germany, for which he applied. They sent for him and the person in charge asked them to show their preference to which country they wanted to go, and he chose Yugoslavia. However, he states that the Yugoslavs were not sure why the Maltese were there for.

The personnel at the Yugoslavian yard explained to them that they usually worked on ships between 5,000 tons up to 100,000 tons, and explained the general process of the procedure for building a ship.

When the Maltese trainees were there, the Yugoslavian shipyard gave them a form to fill in their details including their respective trade.

He went on site and the instructor showed him a machine that made laminate plastic, and at that moment he realised that the work done there was much different from the once he is used to.

(18:45) In fact, he states that they realised that the dockyard that they were in was a shipbuilding yard. They started realising that there was some misunderstanding on their trades and what training they required.

And they also realised that everything they learned during the first years at the Dockyard was not being used there. There in Yugoslavia, they focused more on productive work. He also mentions that there they employed also women to work, and had a perfect system, which was difficult to apply to other places, this is because they used to transfer theory into practice. Example, if a worker decides to join this shipbuilding yard, it was not the management to decide, but by the workers themselves. It was a system that looked at the human side of the worker.

Pace even mention the way work was carried out, example, if they want to make a table, they have everything divided in sections outlining what needs to be done.

In Yugoslavia, he saw workers doing car silencers for their personal use, where they paid for the material. When they tried this system in Malta, it was difficult.

Overall, he mentions that they were advanced and was a good experience. He even states that six to seven of them were already given a promotion, and although he advanced too but only up to an assistant chargeman.

(27:15) He remembers that in 1978 the Mediterranean Conference Hall in Valletta was opened, and he mentions that the ceiling was all constructed at the Dockyard.

During the same period, the P&O Uganda entered the dockyard and had extensive damage on the shipside, which incorporated between 1 to three deck levels, near the restaurant, the 

refrigerated room and in way of the accommodation. He had the choice to either work on the project of the Mediterranean Conference Centre or work on the P&O Uganda.

He decided to work on P&O Uganda, where he also travelled with the ship up to Alexandria.

(32:15) He once had an incident on the SS Uganda during another call at the dockyard. They wanted to change the mattresses, and the dealer here in Malta did not have the same thickness of mattresses. Albeit, they accepted them, however they had to make modifications to the bed bunks. He was going through all the cabins however one cabin did not open the door, so he could not enter the cabin to do the work.

The cabin was the purser’s cabin, and the foreman insisted that Philip stayed at the yard on overtime to complete the work.

(37:45) Working in the dockyard was not easy and one had to be careful. They had no aims to achieve every year, but all it mattered was that work was always available and that every worker had work to do.

(39:30) He also remembers the first coaster being built and all was good, then the second one was done with problems. He could not understand how the first one turned out good and the second one did not? 

(40:45) He mentions that the projects done at the Malta Drydocks, were superior to those done at Marsa shipbuilding.

Looking back-Reflections 

(42:15) The motto of the apprentices was ‘strive for perfection’, and Pace believed highly in that motto, and refused to let another force to stop him from trying to be perfect. He believes in harmony and that the best decision should win. The Dockyard was very important for Malta’s economy.  Pace states that when he was abroad, people always referred him positively to the Maltese dockyard. 

(44:15) Why did the Dockyard close? He mentions that there were workers who used to work in the Dockyard but then left and opened their own business and some were even employed with the Government. The dockyard gave a good structure to be followed on all types of work.