Charles Cremona, 72, the pensioner who waved the Maltese flag from a block of flats practically every time a cruise liner sailed in or out of Grand Harbour, has passed away.
"I feel as if I’m contributing to my home country in my own little way," Mr Cremona had told Times of Malta in an interview.
Charles Cremona had the timetable of the liners’ activity in hand and like clockwork he appeared on the roof of his apartment block overlooking the Lower Barrakka Gardens and Grand Harbour.
This amiable practice started just over three years ago when a close friend of Mr Cremona’s was about to leave Malta for a holiday on board a cruise liner.
“I promised I would see her off, so when the cruise liner she was on coursed out of the harbour, I climbed to the roof of the block of apartments I live in and waved a large Maltese flag,” he said.
“On her return, I welcomed her back in the same manner and have been doing it ever since. Only heavy rain and compulsory errands prevent me from keeping my regular appointment with the cruise liners,” he added.