The few remaining shipyard workers, who once numbered in the tens of thousands, clocked out for the last time yesterday afternoon, gripped by a sense of anger and despair.

Carrying their boiler suits, protective helmets and other belongings in plastic bags, they walked out through the gates at 2.30 p.m., went straight to the adjacent car park and drove up the hill in what looked like a funeral cortege.

With tears in their eyes, some of the men hugged each other, shook hands and took photos while assuring each other they would meet again in the future, even that same evening.

"You don't need to worry about the country's debt any longer," some workers shouted, in a reference to those who viewed the shipyard workers as synonymous with years of unnecessary subsidies.

Many swore at the government, recalling the Prime Minister's pre-election promise that the shipyards would not be privatised.

Others were calmer but said they were sad to be leaving their place of work after 30 odd years, during which they had given their utmost.

"The least we expected was to be guaranteed an interview with the new owners," one man said, adding that the last batch of workers were some of the best.

Another man in his 50s was more hopeful: "We have never been afraid of challenges. We want to find work so we are not going to sit around. This is another challenge and we must remain strong."

However, he added that finding work would be very difficult in the current economic climate.

The yard only employed 60 workers in its last incarnation, having shed nearly a thousand employees in its 2003 restructuring to go down to 1,700, and downsizing again drastically last year with a voluntary retirement scheme ahead of the privatisation.

Fifty-nine of the remaining workers have asked to be transferred to the government company Industrial Projects and Services Ltd, while another one has opted for an early retirement scheme.

Besides these 60 workers, another 200 casual workers, who were employed on weekly contracts, were also asked not to return to work. Many said they were jobless and would be registering for work on Monday.

One worker said he had anticipated the closing of the shipyards and started looking for work as soon as the privatisation idea was announced.

"I start my new job next week," he said proudly, adding that he felt sorry for those who had not planned ahead or were misled into thinking they would be kept on.

Malta Shipyards will now go into a complicated process of liquidation as Parliament is expected to approve the transfer of the Shipyards to Italian company Palumbo Ltd.

But the government did not manage to entice the new owners to keep any of the former workers - and some now fear no Maltese will be employed with the entity that once provided the bread and butter for thousands.

"If there is a call for applications, I will be the first to apply. I think they need us. We know how things work better than they possibly can," one worker said, stressing that the faster the government closed the deal the better.

Some of the workers were even greeted by their family members who fumed at the media saying: "How can we feed our children now? My husband has no A levels. Now we cannot educate our daughter because even government schools are not exactly free."

Former workers who spoke to The Times by phone said yesterday was a sad day because the shipyards had a lot of potential but were not managed well or given enough importance by government. Some even blamed the General Workers' Union for "taking advantage of a weak management".

Former shipyard employee Vincent Scerri, who left many years ago, said the present situation sparked a flood of memories going back to the late 1950s when he started working at the dockyard as an apprentice. Mr Scerri remembers having to build his own tools from scratch, his first pay and the labour unrest.

The shipyard traces its origins to the time of the Knights of St John and was developed further by the British. In its heyday in the late 1950s, when it used to employ around 12,000 workers, it was transferred to Bailey (Malta) for commercial operations. The government nationalised the operation in 1975 and the Malta Drydocks Corporation was formed, eventually becoming Malta Shipyards.

GWU general secretary Tony Zarb yesterday paid tribute particularly to the workers who died there.

The union leader made his tribute in brief remarks at Vittoriosa, where the union leadership laid flowers at the foot of the Freedom Monument.