Malta Maritime Pilots

by Michael Cassar

self-published

Very few, if any, of us landlubbers are conscious of and much less appreciate the role of maritime pilots. Yet without their intrepid service, the much-vaunted harbour facilities of, say, Malta would simply be of no value at all.

These are the men who, in all kinds of weather, are responsible for guiding large vessels, including the new behemoths of the sea, the cruise liners, in/out of port. Their knowledge of local conditions is vital for the safety of all.

They are the ones who advise ships masters of the massive liners as they move through the restricted busy sea lanes of the Grand Harbour and Marsaxlokk and lead them to their safe moorings and out again. One can indeed say that without their unsung service the commercial activities of the island would simply wind down.

The way they were: dropping the pilot on a dgħajsa in the 1960s.

Although a pilotage service must have been in existence since the early days of navigation in Malta’s ports, it was only in 2003 that 16 master mariners founded the Malta Maritime Pilots Cooperative Society Ltd. It is indeed their efforts that has led to the publication of this excellent study by Michael Cassar, Malta’s leading historian of the Grand Harbour and its activities since British times.

In a highly appreciative foreword, Ann Fenech, president of the Comité Maritime International, underlines the activities of maritime pilots and mentions the invaluable role she played in the drawing up of the pilotage regulations which, inter alia, led to the founding of the Malta Maritime Pilots Cooperative which she describes as a “historic and a game-changer” development.

The first section gives an in-depth view of the many activities of the Cooperative Society but the jewel in the crown must surely be the MaritimeMT Training Centre it has set up at Ħal Far to prioritise professional training. This state-of-the-art centre to train seafarers at all levels of competences. This has proved an outstanding success and has already established itself as one of the best of European maritime training hubs and offers over 50 different courses up to the level of Master on board any vessel.

Cassar records in good detail the vicissitudes and the difficulties pilots had to face in their rightful search for recognition, something which is now thankfully accepted

The book gives the history of pilotage in Maltese harbours from 1800 to 2002. The arrival of the British with their huge naval needs at first ironically led to a downscaling of mercantile activity especially in the Grand Harbour. In 1851 Sir William (Billy) Parker, the C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet, made the decision to designate areas of naval and mercantile activity, which allowed merchant shipping to use passage through what was previously reserved exclusively for naval use.

In the Grand Harbour, pilotage is also a public spectacle.

The Crimean War led to a great increase in harbour activity and to the publication of pilotage regulations. Pilotage was then an autonomous often blood-related service and not compulsory although advisable owing to ‘the narrowness of the entrance and the usual variableness of the wind’.

The opening of the Suez Canal resulted in an increase of shipping and the need for pilotage services. A union was actually set up in 1877 by 27 individuals, and yet another pilots’ association, the Società dei Piloti, in 1880.

Cassar explains that pilots’ competencies were generally town-specific. Bumboat men generally came from Senglea, boatmen from Cospicua, and pilots from Vittoriosa, which explains why many were named Lawrence or Lorenzo.

The building of the breakwater had a significant effect on pilotage and navigation in the Grand Harbour. While it made the harbour waters safer in north-easterly storms, it made entry through the narrow mouth even more problematic and the pilots’ contribution even more critical. 

On the way to a container ship for Marsaxlokk freeport. Photo: Anthony Chetcuti

The two decades before World War II saw a boom in harbour usage, something which made navigation even more difficult as pilots had to lead the way through two battleship and cruiser squadrons, three destroyer flotillas, minesweepers, submarines, fleet auxiliaries, and various support craft.

Cassar records in good detail the vicissitudes and the difficulties pilots had to face in their rightful search for recognition, something which is now thankfully accepted.

The book itself is a most elegant professional production. One of its major attractions is definitely the great number of contemporary maps and old and modern photographs, which are so often the hallmarks of Cassar’s deeply researched publications.