Memoirs of a Maltese Mariner

Ing. Joseph Amato was born on the island of Malta during the years of WWII and started his sailing days while the island was a major British naval base in the Mediterranean. Having received his education at St. Augustine’s College and later his engineering apprenticeship at the then Royal Naval Dockyard in Malta, he went on to follow a thirty-year sea-going career in the British Mercantile Marine, starting from coastal British and European ports, Baltic and Irish seas as far as Spitzbergen, Greenland and Icelandic ports. At twenty-nine years he obtained his class I, followed with a tanker endorsement on steam and motor propulsion and moved on to deep sea shipping, engaging himself on long distance voyaging, and as requested by various shipping companies. Now Joseph has retired from “pushing” tankers (VLCC) around the globe and prefers to enjoy his days afloat, propelled by the wind on his ketch-rigged sailing boat.