This 1877 certificate authorising Carmelo Attard to steer ships was found in a protective wooden tube with another licence dated 1856. They are the only known licences in Malta of a similar vintage and were recently donated to the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa. Photos: Paul Spiteri Lucas

Few are aware it was a Maltese man who steered the oil tanker Ohio into the Grand Harbour 70 years ago, although most have heard of the operation that saved Malta from famine.

The Ohio had been hit three days before its arrival on August 15, 1942. Still full of fuel, the vessel could have blown up if it had come under attack again, but the Maltese harbour pilot manoeuvred it safely into the capital’s harbour.

Seventy years on, as they have for centuries, pilots still scramble to any vessel that wants to dock in Malta and guide the ship’s captain into the harbour.

Day and night, these harbour pilots must sail out and climb up a ladder to board the vessel. They are responsible for coordinating any movement around the island’s main ports – namely the Grand Harbour and the Birżebbuġa Freeport.

Chief pilot Jesmond Mifsud.

This has been the job of chief pilot Jesmond Mifsud, 49, for the past 25 years and he has steered one of the largest ships in the world – the CMA CGM Marco Polo – which is as large as four football grounds.

“We advise the captains of every single vessel that is heavier than 500 gross tonnes. Once we board, we tell them what course they need to take, at what speed and how to manoeuvre the vessel.

“We need to know the ins and outs of the harbour and we need to stop them if we realise that they might pollute the sea or damage the infrastructure,” Mr Mifsud said. “It gets harder during the September 8 regatta race as there are boats, yachts and children swimming all at once.”

A pilot boat at sea.

Malta sees some 9,000 vessel movements every year, two-thirds of which are based at the Freeport. This means each of the 17 local pilots manoeuvres around 550 ships.

This job used to be passed on from one generation to the next, usually in families living around Cottonera. With changes in technology, technical requirements have increased.

Mr Mifsud, from Żejtun, attended the Nautical School in Malta and after working abroad for a while, was hired in Malta when he turned 24.

During the time of the Knights,a man called Orlando Magri was hanged because of a captain’s bad decision. Nowadays your licence would be withdrawn instead

Since then he has been “climbing ladders up ships, come rain or shine”.

He will never forget Christmas Eve three years ago, when he had to sail out five miles in a gale of 10 (64 knots) and guide the captain of a passenger ship into the Grand Harbour.

The weather conditions were so severe that he advised the captain to point the vessel towards Sliema to get into the Grand Harbour safely.

One of his best memories dates back two years ago, when he guided the 396-metre-long Marco Polo.

The wooden protective tube which housed the two antique licences.

“The challenges grow as the ships get larger, but we are still under the same pressure to steer them in port in the shortest possible time.

“Many on the cruise liners would have booked services on land, while sometimes there are passengers and supplies ready to be boarded at a specific time.

“Connections need to be timely, even at the Freeport, and it is us who face the pressure,” Mr Mifsud added.

Mr Mifsud was speaking at the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa which has just welcomed the donation of two well-preserved 19th-century pilotage licences in a wooden floating capsule.

An 1877 pilot’s certificate found in a wooden tube next to the pilot’s licence issued in 1990 to Jesmond Mifsud.

Lorenzo Attard’s 1856 pilot’s licence.

Dated 1856 and 1877, the licences show that Lorenzo Attard could bring in steamers and that Carmelo Attard, probably a relative, was a certified pilot.

They are the only known licences in Malta, and there are fewer than five similar ones in the UK.

The museum curator, Liam Gauci, noted that piloting goes back to the times of the Knights and harbour piloting was regularised once the British took over.

“The job has always been considered one of great responsibility.

“During the time of the Knights, pre-1565, a man called Orlando Magri was hanged because of a captain’s bad decision. Nowadays your licence would be withdrawn instead.

“Although the system and tools have changed – and they are nowadays going digital – the Maltese harbour pilots have always been internationally renowned,” Mr Gauci said.

Pilot harbours risked their lives – or legs – every time they climbed aboard a ship, but there are many we have never heard of, he added.