Notwithstanding the dynamics related to digital technology and online news portals which I am sure have dictated numerous changes in its production, the Times of Malta remains hugely relevant in 2020 and beyond and there exists an important purpose which needs to continue to be fulfilled by such high-quality newspapers. 

The Times of Malta has always provided the ideal platform for the publication of high quality, properly researched articles on diverse matters of interest to the general public. Usually written in a manner which is shorn of academic complexity found in specialised journals, these pieces very frequently act as information catalysts on different topics to encourage a cross-section of readers who may or may not necessarily be involved in those particular sectors to learn more about and perhaps obtain a different perspective of the subject matter. 

The maritime/legal sector of which I am very proud to belong is one such area. The Times of Malta has been lending its support to this vital sector of the Maltese economy by providing this important platform for decades. Not only has the Times of Malta very often provided the necessary space and encouragement for the publication of material related to the maritime sector which very often comes as a surprise to most readers, it has also through its journalists thrown the spotlight on numerous maritime activities, events or casualties which, were it not for such coverage would have gone right past the general public.

That is because unless you are associated with or work in the maritime sector it is more than likely that the development of the sector just goes over most peoples’ heads. Very frequently it is only after publicity is given to a particular area, whether it is yachting, transshipment of cargo, pilotage, towage, salvage, bunkering, ship repair, ship agency, registration of ships, the arrest of ships, how world recessions effect maritime trade and therefore Malta and how the law features in all of this, that Maltese readers become aware of how important the maritime sector and the law that regulates the maritime sector is to us in Malta. 

One of my first legal maritime contributions to the Times of Malta goes back to February 1991. I was still working in London at the time as a junior lawyer with the international maritime law firm of Holman, Fenwick and Willan. I was privileged to have been working then with one of the icons of international maritime law, Archie Bishop, the legal adviser to the International Salvage Union and one of the main drafters of the Salvage Convention 1989, an instrument drawn up by the Comite Maritime International. The Salvage Convention came about as a result of the need to encourage salvors to continue to invest heavily in equipment and resources to enable them to assist a vessel in distress thus minimising pollution and damage to the environment. Up until this convention and the special compensation provisions contained therein, a salvage award would only be given if there was success and this on the basis of a fundamental tenet in Salvage – No Cure No Pay. 

Given the extent of the carriage of petroleum products and noxious substances it was recognised that professional salvors needed the comfort of knowing that their efforts in going to a ship in such distress would be rewarded even if the salvage operation was not entirely successful. Being Holman’s “Maltese lawyer” Mr Bishop and I wrote these two explanatory articles on the new Salvage Convention for publication in The Sunday Times and they were published. That was nearly three decades ago.

Since then the maritime sector in Malta and the laws accompanying that sector have developed beyond recognition and the Times of Malta has continued and continues throughout this period to be a reliable partner providing the space for maritime specialists including organisations such as the Malta Maritime Law Association and the Malta Maritime Forum to keep the general public updated on the important developments in the maritime sector.

Thank you Times of Malta and many congratulations on your 85th anniversary.

Ann Fenech is Managing Partner of Fenech & Fenech Advocates, Vice-President of the Comite Maritime International, President of the Malta Maritime Law Association and Executive Committee member of the Malta Maritime Forum.

This article first appeared in a commemorative supplement marking 85 years of Times of Malta. Contributions will be published online every day between August 11 and August 20. Read other contributions.