The men whose jobs were on the line during the general strike of April 28, 1958 were not employed by Malta Drydocks but by the Admiralty at the Royal Naval Dockyard Malta.
C. H. Bailey, a Welsh company, took over the ship repair section of the dockyard on March 29 of the following year.
Malta Drydocks was constituted on February 15, 1963 after the government had appointed a council of administration, with Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson as managers, tasked with taking over from C. H. Bailey.