Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Raymond Cardona

Education-Apprenticeship process

(00:30) In 1970 he joined the dockyard as a patternmaker apprentice. During the first year they got training on all the principal Dockyard trades. He joined in September 1970 and in August 1971, everyone went on his trade and he ended up at the boat house, which was shared between the patternmakers and the joiners. There he began to learn the trade with his instructors. He spent 7 to 8 years there, but the work of the patternmakers was declining, so Cardona decided to change his trade. He went to the boilershop and began to work as a sheet metal worker, spending 22 years working there.

Education-Interesting training and skills 

(04:30) During that time he was sent for four years at Manoel Island, where he worked with 6mm aluminium. He mentions that the difference from working on a ship from that the work on a yacht. Even the mentality of the workers was different.

In the year 2000, he managed to become a store-houseman at the steel yard. This was not a popular store to work in. He learned a lot on steel plates (pjanci) materials, handling and certification. He realised that there was a process when issuing plates from the store as not all plates are the same.

(06:30) In 2002, an early retirement scheme was issued for the yard workers and Cardona spent about three months thinking about it until he decided to take the scheme. He does not regret his decision. He joined as an electrician with an established local company and even worked on construction sites. 

(10:30) During the older days, a patternmaker had an additional 6d in their wage then that of a fitter. This was because the trade of a patternmaker was considered difficult to learn. He praises the quality of his instructors he had.

Education-Interesting training and skills 

(13:15) As a major work at the pattern shop, he remembers the pattern for a cylinder head of a ship engine. The challenge was that they did not have any drawings, so they had to create the pattern from the original casting that was going to be changed. This meant that they had to use their full imagination to figure out the internal spaces.

Propeller work was also interesting. Even though they learned how to draw a propeller, their work involved making only parts of the blades. He states that it was a difficult work to do but it gave him satisfaction.

One other main work of the patternmakers, was the re-wooding of the propeller shaft bushes. He remembers the Russian ship ‘Leonardo da Vinci’, where they made a re-wooding with the ship afloat.

Safety-Accidents 

(16:15) He mentions when the buoy in No.1 dock caught fire. He states that the accident was a tragedy. He also mentions the explosion of the Um El Faroud. He mentions that two of the workers who died were apprentices with him at the boilershop. Cardona also remembers when a ship was entering No.4 dock with tug-boats, when for some reason the ship started its engine and was about to crash in the No.5 dock-gate. Fortunately, the ship was controlled before an accident could happen.

 

(11:15) During his time at the yard, he saw many changes, for example in No.1 dock area there was the electrical shop which was then re-located to Ghajn Dwieli. He remembers No.6 and No.7 docks being constructed, with No.7 dock taking a section part of the boat house.

He worked a lot of work when the Marsa Dock was being built. Another major projects he recalls was the fabrication of the ramp-doors of the Gozo Channel ferries. Cardona also remembers the manufacturing of expansion joints, which required very high craftmanship. The work in the yard was varied and generally differed from one to another. He worked on the Vistafjord as well. While talking about his experience on the refurbishment of ships, he states that they had to have a good co-ordination between the different trades. This safe-guarded the workers from misunderstandings and injuries.

(26:30) Raymond mentions certain aspects on the safety at the shipyard, especially while working at the steel yard. 

(32:15) During his time as store-houseman at the steel yard, Raymond issued a lot of steel plates for ships. He talked about how every ship took different types of plates. There were a lot of variation in quality. The plates were all tested and certified before these are issued to the plate shop. All imported steel material was certified and approved by the classification society. 

Trade Union-Strikes 

(35:45) As apprentices, they were not affected by the 1970s strike. He does not remember the full situation, but it was because of the big gap between a dockyard worker and those working with the government. He still thinks that politics affected the yard too much, even though sometimes negatively and other time positively. He feels that the yard was given a bad reputation due to certain episodes, that was not fair on the majority of the workers.  

Looking back-Reflections 

(38:45) Cardona states that he is hurt when he hears people talking negatively about the dockyard, and he will be the first to reply back to them and state real facts about it.