I'm an *Arab* from Tunisia and can understand him perfectly (despite some Italian pollution)! These boatmen form the "weakest link" between the *Arab* world and Malta (and consequently Europe) maintaining Maltese as part of the *Arabic* dialect continuum. From the Hijaz, Levantine, Egyptian, Azadigh, Maghrebian, Tunisian, Tunisian coastal isles and *Malta* completes the *Arab* picture.