Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Joe Schembri

(00:30) He chose the trade of a fitter due to his interest in cars, when he was young.  When he became a fitter, he chose to work within the maintenance section of the Plant department. In this section they were responsible for the overhead travellers in the workshops as well as all the dockside cranes. At that time, new and modern cranes (Carruthers travelling cranes) were being installed in the new prefabrication shops. 

(02:00) In 1981, he was promoted to a chargeman of the fitters’ department, where he stayed until he left the dockyard in 1987, after working in the yard for around 20 years.

Looking back-Skills gained

(02:45) The dockyard was known as the place to be, if one was willing to learn. He, mentions that as a fitter, the main machine shop (known as the factory) was an important step to learn how to use the various machines; there he learned bench fitting, the lathe, milling and other machines. Also, he was able to see what the workers are capable of doing, in the sense that they always found a way to do the work, by making their own tools and any other arrangements to do the assigned work. Working in the factory was one of his best experiences. 

(03:30) He recalls when the large crane at No.6 dock, moved on its rails during a storm with very high winds. It hit the other crane that was on the same rails pushing it up to the stoppers. Luckily the crane did not fall over, however it went off its rails. As plant maintenance team, they had to do the difficult operation of moving the crane back on its rails. This operation took days to complete, using a lot of equipment and following a complicated procedure. Once it was back on its rails, the Chinese company that had built them, sent the engineers to inspect them for any damages after the accident. They mainly inspected the thrust-bearing which was around 6 feet in diameter.

(07:00) He and his colleagues were very much involved in the installation of the new cranes, as these were classified as dockside lifting. They were in close contact with the machine shop (the factory) for the parts they needed, where they followed the instructions for installation.

He mentions the example of the dock arms, which was a very sophisticated equipment and were also tested and certified as they do on any lifting equipment. He cannot say how the accident happened. The dock arms had a rail at the bottom of the dock. They had a cable drum for electricity, depending on which direction it moves it is either unrolled or rolled accordingly.

The equipment was a sophisticated equipment designed to work in certain conditions.

(11:30) The maintenance of the cranes included testing. They had several maintenance procedures for different time frames-yearly, two yearly and every four years. They are continuously maintained in terms of greasing and check-ups, and report any items that required further work. These items are taken care of depending on the urgency, otherwise left to be done during the scheduled maintenance.

In the four-yearly maintenance, a third-party surveyor is appointed to survey and certify the work. Testing is also done on the crane’s structure, loading it to the recommended load.

(13:30) The greasing procedure was a dangerous one, especially when it was not done using another crane. The large cranes had to be done practically by workers moving on the crane wire ropes and greasing them at the same time. They also had to grease the wheels, for which they had a walkway. 

(15:30) Apart from crane maintenance, they were also responsible for the steam shore supply. They were responsible for the boiler between the 4 & 5 dock, the one next to No.3 dock and the one near the boilershop. They had also the old portable steam boiler. 

(17:44) The plant department, apart from the maintenance team, there was also a workshop, which was underground, behind the factory. They had lathe turners & bench fitters, which generally they carried all the required work. However, in some cases they used the services of the main machine shop. They did not carry any work in terms of electrical, example during a crane test, electrical fitters were asked to by-pass the limit switches.

(20:15) When it came to the maintenance of the new travelling cranes (Carruthers) they faced a problem due the different type of structure. For example, the braking systems on the older equipment had shoe brakes, whereas the new ones were equipped with disc brakes. The crane operation controls were done remotely, as compared to a having a driver up on the crane.

(21:30) He left the dockyard when another opportunity cropped up and due to some unfairness, he felt for a promotion. It was not an easy decision for him to make since he had been working there for 20 years but it was some-thing he needed to do for himself. 

(22:45) The job he did after leaving the dockyard was with a bottling company, hence he was on call 24/7 due to the nature of the job, because he was on a production line, and if there is any fault, this would stop production. The organisation, being a private company, was totally different from the dockyard. He felt the difference between working with a private company and the dockyard, even when it came to management. In a private company, the attitude from the management was very rigid. In the yard the relation between people was much more human.

(28:00) He remembers, that the yard offered to its workers, sea-going experience with Cunard. Another experience he remembers, while in the dockyard was when he and some of his colleagues spent around 6 months in the Mars factory. With Cunard he was able to travel to various countries such as Liverpool and Australia. In Australia he especially remembers it because there he met some of his family members that he had never met before. The sea was not good for him. In fact, when he was on the Cunard, he would either stay in the engine room taking readings or washing clothes, even when it was not his shift he stayed there because he could not stand being in the upper decks. He would sometimes go near the captain as well, who used to tell him that sea sickness was all from his mind. He also mentioned how superstitious the English were by recalling the story of when they were about berth and a number of albatrosses would come near the vessel. There was one person who threw something at them and when they arrived, they scolded him for his actions as they believed that these birds represented the soul of seamen who had died.