Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Ritchie Borg

(00:30) When they entered the dockyard as apprentices, every 6 weeks they changed trade to gain experience in the main trades of the shipyard.

Then after the 1st year, they choose which trade they would like to continue and he chose the Shipwright trade. Then the following years he took training in the various shops related to his trade, mainly steel shops. When he completed his apprenticeship in the 1970, he started getting the salary of a tradesman and started working as a shipwright with the afloat section, that is working onboard ships where he stayed up to 1978.  

Education-Employment pathways / local and foreign training opportunities 

(01:30) At the time of his apprenticeship, the yard was still under the management of Swan Hunter, who used to choose four apprentices and send them abroad to do a leadership course. In 1968 he was chosen and had the opportunity to go to Aberdovey in Wales, where he spent about 27 days.

(02:30) In 1978, he applied for a vacancy with the docking section, for a DBA (Docking and Berthing Assistant), which was a position at a level of a working chargemen. A working chargemen with the docking department, was responsible of the opening/closing of the dock-gate (kexxun tal-Bacir; Plural: Kxaxen). The yard had one pumping station serving No.2 and No.3 dock, and another one serving No. 4 and No. 5 docks. The procedure for draining one dock was to open a valve in the pumping station, making sure that the valve of the other dock is closed so as to make sure that this is not flooded. 

(04:15) Once a ship is confirmed for docking in one of the docks, the client is asked to send the Docking Plan of the ship, on which the Drawing Office prepares a docking sheet that adapts the Ship’s Docking Plan to the yard’s particular drydock.

This indicates the positioning of the side blocks (Posti), choosing the strongest points to support the vessel. The arrangement of the blocks as indicated by the Docking Sheet is done when the dock is dry. When the vessel enters, they mark the length of the vessel on the dock side, so as to have a visible mark of its position when the dock is filled with water. The vessel is then kept positioned longitudinally in line with this mark and positioned centrally in the dock with the use of a bob line (Pendlu), which is a wire across the dock with a vertical pendulum which marks the centre of the dock. 

Once the vessel is placed, they start draining out the water. During the draining, the preference is to have more draft aft so that the ship touches the blocks by the stern first. This makes the ship easier to position, however special attention is given as at that critical moment the ship loses some stability. 

Once the dock is completely dry, they go down to the bottom of the dock to visually check that the ship is placed properly on the blocks. If required, they pack the side blocks with softwood and wedges (kunjardi).

(07:15) He also highlights the difference in the docking procedure from when he joined the docking department in 1978, with the present time.  They used to do it with a system of shores (puntali), where the shipwrights positioned themselves on each side of the dock and as the vessel is being drydocked, they place the shores from the dock walls to the ship side, and packing them with wedges as the ships rests on the blocks.

(08:00) At that time, the side blocks placed outside the middle line, were not able to cover the whole bottom of the vessel due to the shape of the ship hull. This meant that in that instance, the shipwrights will go to the bottom of the dock and pack the side blocks with wood. The system of using shores is not used anymore as the shape of the vessel permits that the side blocks can be already positioned according to the shape of the vessel.

(09:15) Sometimes it could happen that a block is positioned in way of a sea chest or some repairs and needs to be removed from under a drydocked ship. Ritchie explains in detail, how this was done in the olden days and also the method that is used nowadays. 

(11:45) A common case was when a ship with a rise-of-floor, docks on the same arrangement of the preceding ship without draining the dock.

In this case, the adjustment of the side blocks, which are permanently positioned on the dock floor, is done by the divers. Based on the Docking sheet they prepare soft wood and wedges to the required size, which are hung in advance (before the first ship undocks) with the side blocks that need to be packed and the diver positions these before the second ship enters the dock.

(16:00) The Valve system (penstock) has changed as well. These valves worked a hydraulic system which was present all over the dockyard and later on changed to a motorized system.

(17:00) Ritchie explains the improvement that happened in the communication system during the docking operation. Whereas before they used by means of whistles and flag signs, nowadays they use radio communication. This made the operation safer and more accurate. 

(18:30) There was also a big improvement on how the ship is pulled in the dock. The system that was used was that when the ship approaches the dock entrance, the crew onboard threw the heaving lines to pull in the shore ropes, which are connected to the ship bollards on both sides.  Once the shore lines are connected the riggers would start moving in with the vessel. This involved a lot of manpower. 

This changed when ‘mules’ were introduced. The mules consist of sliding hooks on each side of the dock vessel, controlled by one person from the winch house at the head of the dock. These mules are also used to centre the ship in the drydock. 

(21:30) Apart from having the dock master, foremen, DBAs, they also needed shipwrights and riggers to handle and carry materials; changing of wires on lifeboats, etc.

The riggers had a lot of manual work doing swaging (iccumbar), up to when the yard bought a new Toleroid (Talurit?) machine which made the process more efficient.

They also had a section within the department for divers, where apart from the assistance during the drydocking of a ship, they carried out underwater cleaning of the ship hull. They were also involved in any underwater work that needed attention. 

(25:30) They also had the boat pool, consisting of two small boats named the Filfla and the Kemmuna and another one built in the dockyard named Is-Sunta. These were used to transport people and shifting of barges (braken). 

(27:00) The docks in the shipyard used different types of dock-gates. Ritchie explains the different types relative to the different docks

(27:30) Sliding gates that had dock gates, when they needed to detatch them and float them, the ferry would then take them to the needed vessel. The ferries were also used to shift small vessels instead of using the tug boat services. 

The maintenance of the dock gates consisted in the removal from its place, shifted to another drydock for inspection to another dock, to empty the water and make a visual inspection, renewal of the anodes, carry out any repairs to pipes and/or plating. Inspection and reconditioning of the rubber sealing faces. 

Education-Projects 

(29:45) In 2005, the No.4 dock dock-gate was removed from its place. This was the first time that it was removed since it was fitted. There was no defined procedure, so they had to plan it well. The removal went smoothly and the dock gate was shifted to No.7 dock for maintenance and repairs. The process took less than expected and the workers who took part in the project were all given recognition through a certificate to thank them for the amazing job they did, also considering this was the first time it was done. 

(33:45) They had occasions where they had to dock more than one vessel in the same dock. The docking procedure was more complicated, as this required to have two different docking arrangements. The dock master always insisted that the two vessels had different drafts (pixka), so that one vessel rests on the blocks before the other vessel.

(35:45) When the dockyard started taking in yachts and super yachts, which had to be handled differently from a normal ship. The docking of these yachts required very accurate and detailed drawings from the drawing office highlighting sections on the yacht in way of the bulkheads, since, due to the fragility of the yacht structure the side blocks cannot be weight bearing as it might damage the yacht. This also required continuous attention from the divers.  

(39:45) When it comes to undocking a vessel, they do the necessary checking before they start filling the dock such as checking the valves, which were removed for overhaul when the ship was in the dry dock. The filling of the dock is slowed down when they reach the level of the sea valves so that the chief engineer checks and gives the go ahead to continue with the undocking. 

(41:15) Even though the workers took all the precautions and followed procedure, during the docking of the vessel, there were still instances where the vessel tilted to one side.

He remembers a big car carrier in No.4 dock, that needed repairs on the car ramp, which was not on the middle line of the ship. Once it was drydocked and the crew started opening the ramp, they started to notice that the ship was tilting to the port side due to the weight of the ramp. The yard advised them to close back the ramp and made more side blocks on the port side and use shores, which had not been used for a long time. 

(43:45) The accident on the hopper barge HAM 350, which was docked in No.1 dock. While the hopper barge was on the blocks, they noticed that the wood under the vessel started breaking and was sliding forward and ended up dropping from the blocks. From this accident, they decided on a new procedure for docking of these types of vessels. 

Entering the dockyard-Reasons for joining 

(47:00) Before he had the idea of joining the dockyard, he was attending a technical school and he followed his friends to take the dockyard examination. 

When he finished technical school, he thought that by entering the dockyard, he would not have to study anymore, however he was mistaken, because he had to attend lectures in the dockyard and other lessons at school. However, he was earning some money, especially since when one is young, money was necessary. 

(48:00) He sees the time he spent at the dockyard as an amazing period in his life because he learned a lot of different trades which came to good use when he got older and was able to do almost everything himself, such as electrical, plumbing, etc. Apart from that, even just the experience of seeing and using different machinery and going up on large ships and there were a lot of opportunities where one can learn.