In the second in a series of reports from the Oleander as it sailed from the US to Bermuda, Royal Gazette reporter Tari Trott spoke to Captain Marc Hlberts, about life on board the ship.

They say a seaman's life is treacherous and one of constant pressure, compounded by having to spend many months away from his family. But when viewed through the eyes of Marc Hlberts, adventure is everywhere.

Capt. Hlberts, 37, from the Netherlands, is currently the captain of Bermuda container vessel, Oleander. Bermuda Container Line (BCL) owns the ship, which many view as one of the Island's lifelines.

He's been Captain of the vessel for just a year, but don't be fooled. Mr. Hlberts' career spans two decades.

Last week, The Royal Gazette met up with the ship at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the Oleander sails every week to pick up supplies bound for the Island.

And this paper was given unique access to its cargo operations in New Jersey and onboard as she sailed back to Bermuda on Sunday.

"When I was 15-years-old," he told The Royal Gazette while checking the company e-mail on a satellite phone link, some 400 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda, "they kicked me out of several schools.

"And my father decided, 'OK, you don't want to learn then we're going to send you to one year of nautical school and you'll start as an able seaman (AB) on a cargo ship and maybe then you'll get older and wiser.'

"So, I did one year in nautical school in Holland and started out as an AB, which I liked very much and I sailed with a family aboard a small coaster (a small freighter) in Europe and after two years the captain told me I had to go back to school because in the future I could be a Mate.

"I said 'no, I want to stay as an AB for the rest of my life… I like painting and being outside'. But, we were in drydock in Holland and the nautical school was nearby so he took me with him and … next thing you know I was back in nautical school studying to be a Mate.

"So, actually I didn't have any choice. I passed nautical school in two years to become a Mate.

"I think I was 19 years old, it went very quick and I did my first trip as a Captain when I was 24 years old on a ship in Europe that was about 17 metres (51 feet) long and ten metres (30 feet) wide, a small coaster weighing 1,000 tons."

But it turned out to be one of the best decisions he ever made, he said.

He said: "At that time I had a worldwide licence in sailing. Later they upgraded my licence allowing me to sail on any ship no matter the tonnage.

"Looking back, I think my father was right in sending me to nautical school when I was 15 years old."

Asked where he worked prior to the Oleander, he said: "I was sailing for a company in the Netherlands and they chartered their vessels to the Universal Africa Line.

"I made several trips from Europe to West Africa and back and on the older ships from Houston and New Orleans to West Africa and back."

Mr. Hlberts is married with three small children, two girls and a boy, who live in Holland. "They are used to the fact that I'm gone for long periods of time," he said.

"My schedule working on the Oleander is ten weeks on and ten weeks off, so it's not too bad because after ten weeks I am home with my family and then I can relax with them.

"In the ports, especially in Bermuda, you have the Internet, which makes it very easy to communicate with my family without any expensive long distance costs."

As Mr. Hlberts explained his routine as the Oleander captain, it was clear he has little down time.

He said: "When we are in a normal schedule during summertime when the weather is nice, we depart from Bermuda on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. because we have time to reach New Jersey.

"So the Tuesday and Wednesday we are at sea and we always try to arrive at Port Elizabeth by 10 a.m. on Thursday.

"Once berthed, we work from 1 p.m. at the Marl container terminal until Thursday evening… it depends sometimes… we can work until 6 p.m. on Thursday.

"We then continue on Friday with the containers — first we discharge all of the empty ones and load the full ones and normally we finish around noon on Friday afternoon then we ship to the 'Ro-Ro' (Roll-on-Roll-off) berth (P&M) and work there for about 4 hours.

"We then depart at around 5 p.m. from New Jersey to be in Bermuda at around 3 p.m. on Sunday — this is the normal schedule.

"In the winter it's more difficult and the schedule is tight but in the summer it's easier because you have better weather and you always make it on time.

"In the winter, sometimes you have to deal with wind of 40 to 50 knots and you don't always make it to Bermuda on Sunday, you might arrive first thing on Monday morning — that's the risk of the winter."

In addition to doing lots of exercise on board the ship, he finds leisure in reading lots of books and watching documentaries on DVDs as well as using a karaoke machine, which is also used by his 14 crew members, all of whom are Filipino.

He revealed: "Some of our crew relax by using the karaoke machine others, like our previous second Mate, watch as many DVDs as possible.

"But me… I read books, I watch documentaries on DVD sometimes, I'm not really into watching the movies.

"But after my duties I go to my cabin and read a book or I watch a documentary on DVD or Dutch news that I get on DVD every week from Holland.

"I see the Dutch news from the week before so I check it out. Between working and sleeping you don't have too much time to relax or have fun, but I make the best out of the down time that I do get.

"And I do use the fitness machines every day in the gym to keep fit."

Tomorrow find out what a scientist was doing on board the Oleander.