Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Carmel Azzopardi

Entering the dockyard-Swan Hunter / Bailey / changeovers 

(01:15) In 1959 the Dockyard was handed over to Bailey. Then the Dockyard became government property and Swan Hunter, and Wigham Richardson were appointed as managers. He states that there were some disagreements between the Maltese Governmant and Swan Hunter and therefore his apprenticeship period encountered problems. Azzopardi joined the Drydocks on 27th August 1968. At that time being due to strikes and industrial issues, the number of apprentices was reduced to 30. Carmel came to know that he placed in position 13 in the interview. He states that apprenticeship was well planned, designed and performed. However, the shipyard production performance was very low. Azzopardi gained merit and distinction results and as a result he finished his apprenticeship period in just four years. He attended the Diploma of Electronic Engineering and in 1972 he was appointed as journeyman electrical fitter afloat. 

Entering the dockyard-Swan Hunter / Bailey / changeovers 

(03:45) In 1971 the prime Minister Mintoff fired Swan Hunter, and the industrial reputation was very low with the consequence that the performance of the dockyard was very bad. Mintoff took harsh measures and in 1973 he called a meeting and afterwards the management improved its performance, so and so that in 1974 the Drydocks made its first time ever profit. 

(06:45) He was an engineer who was responsible for a fleet of 20 vessels. He continued this profession of an electrical engineer till the 1990. Then from then onwards he joined the Malta shipbuilding as an electrical controller. By that time the Malta shipbuilding was building the Russian Soviet timber cargo vessels. When he joined, they were working on Hull 169. He proceeded as an electrical controller and sometimes even worked as an electrical commissioner to test all the electrical machinery. In May 1992, he joined another company, that bought ships and which were brought to Malta for refurbishment, for resale.

(08:45) During this period he was responsible for 5 vessels. With this company he was the managing director, chief executive, and electrical manager for the vessels. 

(09:15) He spent only a year with this company as in 1993 he terminated his work. Then he joined again the Malta shipbuilding because he wanted to continue the commissioning on the vessels, where he worked for 2 years. He left Malta shipbuilding in 1995 and joined Bezzina and Sons. He was employed as an electrical controller. Then at end of October of 2003 he joined the University of Malta. He started as officer 1 but in a year was promoted to officer 3. His role there was to take care of 5 electrical labs. 

(14:00) Back to the Dockyard, Azzopardi states that during the first year it was compulsory for them to practise all the trades. He mentioned that the best trade at that time was that of an electrician. He did indeed choose to focus on that trade and attended several MCAST and institutional courses. He then started his experience with the afloat section. The electrical department had about 9 gangs during that period. Azzopardi took his work so seriously that his instructor made him a chargeman under his instruction. The foreman kept noticing progress and wanted to give him another promotion but there was an industrial action at the test bay of the electrical shop.

The electrical shop overhauled, repaired and tested motors that were removed from the various ships. This shop had a test bay where they tested and certified the equipment coming from the ships. Azzopardi claims that this area was the most important of the workshop.

(20:00) At this test bay there was an industrial dispute, where workers were striking, and he was forced to go and work there. He spent five years working there and he also got to know the people that worked there.  He remembers that once, he declared a motor as burnt-out. He opened it to make sure and he found out that he was right. They repaired bar windings. Then from then onwards he started working with the dredging works 1983 to 1990.

There was another offer and he ended up at the Malta Ship Building. His work there was responsible to invite the Russian representative auditors to check the work done at the Shipyard. On their approval Azzopardi, presented it to the Classification surveyor for the final approval for the commissioning of the equipment.

He mentions that there were different levels of inspections. He created a system that was easy to follow-up.

The electrical department lacked commissioning personnel, so every now and then the manager used to call him to check the generators.

They agreed with the Russian representatives that when he is doing the commissioning, he would disengage from the responsibility of quality control. He succeeded on Hull 168 and kept escalating up to Hull 173.

He was then offered a job with another company, that had bought several ships from outside Malta, and the company requested him to bring these ships to Malta. He was also made the technical manager of the technical staff, and to prepare the transit requirements of the ships. This involved an underwater survey, repairs and any other improvements required. In a year he was responsible of 5 crafts.

(29:15) During that time the Malta Shipbuilding was building the Norwegian vessel, and two tugboats. In 1995, he started working with Salvatore Bezzina, who had 5 companies having work both locally, as well as outside Malta. In fact, Carmel states that he spent a year working in Libya on a Dredger. He was responsible for the refurbishment of a Dredger, which had about 20 generators, about 120 volts for the cutter, 700 volts for the under-water pump, etc. 

(30:45) In the year 2000, there was a development in Sirte, that was the birth place of Gadhafi, who dreamt to make his city as good as Tripoli. In fact, Salvu Bezzina & Son were awarded the contract to construct a new harbour in Sirte. It was difficult because it was a sand port, which meant that with some bad weather the sand moved and a lot of times destroyed a lot of work already done.

 

(36:00) He then joined the University with the Engineering Department, and he was attracted to the job as it had to do with electrical. He kept learning and passed on his experience onto the students. One problem he saw at university was that they tended to concentrate more on theory calculations and simulations. 

But he decided to teach students with practical projects that helped them understand more. When he came to the retirement age, he was given a contract to keep working for another five years. At University he carried out projects on wind turbines, grid system for house application, etc. Azzopardi states that the Dockyard had its advantages and when companies needed assistance, they always counted on the Dockyard.

(45:45) After he retired, he was given a prize for being active in his senior years. This is because he published several papers and did a model of the Catamaran. In 2013, he was given an award for achievement in engineering, for the service he gave after Independence. He was even awarded the President’s award because after 2017 he kept active within the community, with vulnerable seniors and children who needed help in their studies.