A brief history of Dock One

There are mentions of the shipyards dating back to the 11th century but the Knights of Malta were the first to exploit the shipyard to look after its fleet and this was a major point considered by the British when they looked at Malta’s value in the early 19th century. In 1848, the first dry dock was built – Dock One – But at the time, the Somerset Dock was the largest one available to the Royal Navy. Shipping through the Mediterranean surged with the opening of the Suez Canal, and Malta prospered because of the constant turnover of ships: 1669 sailing ship and 3111 steamers in 1880 alone. By 1900, there were 4 docks, and the ‘yards played a key role in the World War I (by when it employed 10,000) but an even more important one during World War 2. There were also naval repair facilities at Manoel Island. In 1959, the dockyards were split, with all its 6 docks and half its 12,000 workforce being sold to Bailey (Malta). In 1968, after independence, the government took it over with the British government allocating £3 million to help the development of the dockyard, with a further £3 million pledged for 1976. In 1975, the government set it Malta Drydocks as a corporation, with a management council elected by the workers. The management was taken over by the government in 1997, under Prime Minister Alfred Sant, but even this was not enough to stem the financial haemorrhage and in 2003, Malta Drydocks and Malta Shipyards were dissolved and replaced by new company, with the workforce reduced from 2,600 to 1,700. In 2010 the rubberbodies collective will perform on 19.20.21.27.28 November 2010 turning Dock No.1 into a theatre.

View rubberbodies at Dock One in a larger map