Lina Brockdorff

 

 

Undoubtedly, Anthony Zarb-Dimech has again regaled the Melitensia enthusiast and reader with yet another unique book and a first of a kind, this time on naval contracting and ship chandling.  This activity died out slowly soon after the end of the First World War but its contribution to the local economy is quite significant and merits detailed attention.

After authoring several books ranging from the history of shelters, civil defence, the First World War, family history, the history of the evangelical and charismatic movement and the history of smoking in Malta, the author has produced a short but compelling book on the history of naval contracting.

As he states in his introduction, this publication would not have been possible were it not for the bundle of documents that were lovingly spared from destruction and preserved by Marie Demicoli. These documents formed the working base for further research leading to the writing of the book.

The book is short but informative and presents the reader with new information about different vessels from different navies (British, French, Australian, Greek and American) that were supplied with provisions for their mess by Maltese naval contractors.

The author has focused mainly on one ship chandling family (Family Borda) and in doing so the reader will find much historical information about how naval contracting and ship chandling was carried out. The strength of favourable recommendation letters issued by the ships' captains to the different Family Borda members involved in naval contracting in the course of their work led to repeat business. 

The book is also very well supplemented with Tables and other illustrations which are found in the Appendix. The reader will surely find interesting the names of recommenders issuing the letters of recommendation with the earliest letter dated 1888 issued by Lieutenant C. N. Kennedy (Instructor in Musketery) and the Royal Naval Rifle Range.

The book's contents are well-distributed over eight chapters as the author introduces the subject starting from the British era up to  early 1930s.  The introduction of the NAAFI establishment in Malta brought a dramatic decrease in ship chandling activites paving the way for many ship chandlers to venture into other economic activities (such as car importation) that were still considered as  relatively "virgin soil" at the time. Many of the original ship chandlers are still in business today as the business legacy continued to run in the family line and are very successful in their new trade. The author has also included some other notable ship chandlers and naval contractors such as the Mizzis and the Grimas. 

This book captures very well the subject in question as it presents a comprehensive, albeit not exhaustive presentation of all the work carried out by many ship chandling families, who through their contribution added so much value to Malta's economy with the work they provided for hundreds of Maltese workers.  Indeed, the book is also a valuable addition to Malta's naval and maritime history.

 

Author: Anthony Zarb-Dimech

Edition: First Edition, 2017

Publisher: Book Distributors Limited

Pages: 109 pp

Retail Price: €7.95

ISBN No:  978-999957-67-41-9