Over the last few nights, especially on the nights of May 22 and 23, from the balcony of an apartment in Sannat, I searched as usual for the telltale intermittent circling light of Ta’ Ġordan lighthouse to the north, above the villages of Għasri and Ta’ Għammar. But to no avail. It was nowhere to be seen. Surprise!

I decided to investigate and drove up at night to the top of the hill where this important lighthouse is located. To my surprise and shock, I found it inactive and in complete darkness. Pitch darkness, no watchman, of course, and no circling beam.

What has gone wrong? Why has Malta’smost important lighthouse suddenly gone dead? Is this some curious cost-cutting measure bythe government?

This is a vital lighthouse for shipping of all sorts approaching Malta’s and Gozo’s shores from the north, east and west. At some 480 or 500 feet above sea level, it is the highest-placed lighthouse in the Mediterranean, an old sea captain used to tell me. It was visible to shipping as soon as one left Cape Passero, in south Sicily, and ventured southwards. It was a vital aid to safe navigation.

It has operated non-stop at night since the middle of the 19th century, say around 1840, during the British period, first with kerosene lamps, more recently electronically and much more powerfully. Its circling beam was always present every few seconds at nighttime. A beacon to safety.

GPS is now aiding shipping to locate its own position on the high seas and that of islands like Gozo and Malta. But a good, fully functioning lighthouse, such as Il-Fanal ta’ Ġordan, is still vital to shipping.

No circling beam or beacon means no warning to ships and men at sea.

This quandary still bears investigating, and solving soonest.