It's 3 a.m. Bermuda time onboard the Oleander and the cargo vessel is some 400 nautical miles out in the Atlantic, headed to Bermuda, having departed Port Elizabeth, New Jersey the day before.

Nothing odd about that, you might think, given the fact the 389-foot freighter, owned by Bermuda Container Line (BCL) has been serving the Island for the past 18 years.

But what is different about this particular time, is that the ship's captain is nowhere to be seen at the controls he's below in his cabin fast asleep.

This, while the waves outside are 15 feet high with 35-knot wind gusts and the more than 6,000-tonne vessel is rocking violently from side to side.

But someone else is at the helm 24-year-old Bermudian Nicholas Maynard, who is on his regular watch and he calmly ensures the vessel is on course and out of danger.

Last week, The Royal Gazette was onboard the Oleander, as the ship departed Port Elizabeth in New Jersey, while it prepared to head for Bermuda, for its weekly run.

While berthed at the Marl Port last Thursday, in New Jersey, The Royal Gazette boarded the ship as the local stevedores were busy unloading Oleander's empty containers and loading new ones bound for the Island.

Mr. Maynard could first be seen from the dockside, standing on the deck keeping a watchful eye as the cargo operations proceed.

He works full time for the Department of Marine and Ports, but because of a staff shortage onboard, he volunteered to fill in for BCL, as a Fourth Officer but on this journey, he's third in command, behind the captain and Chief Mate.

He toldThe Royal Gazette, while outside in the freezing New Jersey temperatures: "The officer that was here had to leave and could not stay for the week and a half it would have taken for his relief to come.

"So Blair Simmons of BCL asked me to fill in and I agreed and Marine and Ports agreed to release me to be able to work on the vessel for two weeks and that's how I got here to be working on the Oleander.

"My duties, when we are in port, are to oversee the cargo operations and follow the plan to ensure that the stevedores basically put the containers where they are supposed to go and do not cause any damage and do it safely.

"Yeah, it's a lot of responsibility," he says about his duties onboard, "but as long as everything goes OK, everything is good. But, once there is a problem, then, it could be your worst nightmare.

" Most Bermudians hardly pay any attention when they spot ships like the <>Oleander, Somers Isle or Bermuda Islander, around the Island each week.

But the ships are literally Bermuda's lifeline. Life as we know it would be far more difficult without them, explains Mr. Maynard.

"The three container ships we have in Bermuda, the Oleander, IBermuda Islander and the ISomers Isle- they're a lifeline to Bermuda.

"They bring in everything we need, everything we use such as food, fresh produce, cars, household items, electronics, construction and building materials, everything.

"If we didn't have these ships, life in Bermuda would get a lot more expensive because to ship freight by air is a lot more expensive than by sea.

"Usually, lighter cargo is shipped by air such as packages and so forth but when you start talking about construction materials and electronics and produce, it's better to ship it by sea because it's cheaper."

Mr. Maynard's career as a seaman started around eight years ago when he became fascinated by the duties of a marine pilot.

He reflected: "I started by working summer jobs at Marine and Ports on tugboats, pilot boats and on the ferries.

"I had learned about the role that marine pilots play in Bermuda -this fascinated me.

"While I was attending the Bermuda College in 2000, I talked to a marine pilot to get advice on becoming one myself.

"I was basically trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. He told me what sorts of training and schooling was required for the job.

"So, I enrolled in the Nova Scotia Community College in Canada to attend their Nautical Institute programme for two years to begin my training to become a branch pilot.

"I was there for one year, and while there, Marine and Ports had advertised for the post of Apprentice Branch Pilot (his current position).

"I graduated from the Nautical Institute programme with a completion certificate, meaning I completed their cadet course.

"I applied for the job, got short listed, had an interview and was ultimately accepted. My title right now is a Trainee Branch Pilot.

"After I got the job at the end of 2003, Marine and Ports sent myself and another Trainee Branch Pilot, Anthoni Lightbourne, to England to attend one of England's best maritime academies.

In a couple of months, I'll have my licence to become a first-class branch pilot. Becoming a first class branch pilot is the first step. Once I've worked in the position for five to ten years, then I'll be eligible to become a senior branch pilot."

And Mr. Maynard is used to being away from home. He's travelled extensively around the world on various ships, mostly on cargo ones.

He vividly recalls receiving a "wake-up call" when the ship he was on travelled to Nigeria.

"I've been around the world," he said. "Asia, Central America, Africa, Asia, you name it. But the most memorable place that I've visited was Africa, which was a very nice experience.

"I remember when I travelled to a port in Nigeria in 2004 on a vessel to gain experience; I was a cadet at the time.

"I was still enrolled in the programme in England which required me to go to sea at least three times and spend 12 months at sea.

"When we went to Nigeria, the climate there was sort of a wake up call for me. While in port, our ship had armed security guards to protect our crew because that area was very dangerous.

"The guards carried big pistols and machine guns and that sight lead me to be very cautious of my surroundings."

With a smile on his face, he recalls a frightening moment while in port in Nigeria, in which he feared for his life.

"One of our crew members got into an argument with one of the Nigerian security guards. "During the heat of the argument, the security guard walked off the ship and fired several rounds of bullets into the air out of frustration.

"When I saw that, I feared for my life. When I heard the machine gun going off, the first thing I did was to hide, to dodge the bullets!

"When he shot the gun into the air, I don't believe he was aiming it at anybody, but I didn't know if he was going to turn around and point the gun at somebody, so I just ran.

"It was the first time I had seen someone fire a gun, especially a machine gun with real bullets you don't really see these sorts of things in Bermuda.

"But everything ended up being OK, I was able to calm the guard down and I had to separate him from the crew member in question to maintain peace."

Then, after leaving Nigeria, Mr. Maynard and his fellow crew found a surprise on board.

"When I made that trip to Nigeria and left to head back to Europe, we soon discovered we had a stowaway onboard who was Nigerian and who was obviously desperate to go to Europe.

"This stowaway happened to be a stevedore the guys who load cargo onto the ship.

"On a cargo vessel, we must allow the stevedores onboard to allow them to do their job of loading the freight but this stevedore decided to never get off the ship when it was time to leave.

"We only found him when someone saw him sneaking into the kitchen to get food. Once his presence onboard was known, we interviewed him to determine his name, his nationality and other important details so we could notify the authorities in the destination we were heading.

"After interviewing him, we detained him inside a spare cabin and turned the lock inside out so he could not leave.

"But we still had to treat him humanely, as with all stowaways.

"Asked what his career plans are for the future, not surprisingly, he said: "I see myself being a branch pilot I plan to do that for a long time. But I also have a personal goal, which is to obtain my Chief Mate licence.

"Chief Mate is the next step above a watch licence, which is what I'm doing now.

"I would get more responsibility. As a chief mate I would be in charge of all the deck crew and I would be instructing the deck crew, telling them what to do in terms of maintenance onboard a vessel and ensuring overall stability.

"And the only person above the chief mate is the Captain. By becoming a Chief Mate, I would be bettering myself and I think it's nice to have some sort of goal, something to aim to, which would lead to me being satisfied.

" There is no one more proud of Mr. Maynard than his mother, who is an employee with the Bermuda Hospitals Board.

"Overall, my family is really proud of me, especially with my career as a pilot. For the people who know what a branch pilot does, they have a lot of respect for the profession. Yes, my mother is very proud of what I do. I think what I do is something different because most people my age go into international business or the insurance sector, but there's not many people that actually pick the career of a seaman.

"But being a seaman doesn't mean you have to travel on vessels internationally, you can work in the confines of Bermuda such as on the ferries, the tugboats, etc. this allows people to remain closer to home."