For Deputy Pilot Warden Mario Thompson, shepherding young seafarers through Marine and Ports is a chance to reconnect Bermudians with their maritime heritage.“We’re thinking long-term with these guys,” he said of a set of recently qualified pilots and a few training their way up the ladder of sea skills.“We’re sending these young men away to get experience and higher certifications. The reward is theirs and ours, at the end of the day. It’s for Bermuda’s benefit. We’re preparing them for higher levels of opportunities within Marine and Ports, and in other cases in the private sector.“The choices are ultimately theirs, and they have a lot to choose from out there.”Like many Bermudians, acting marine service officer J Maquel Bailey, 31, “always loved the water”.“This is the avenue in Bermuda to spend a lot of time in the industry,” he said of his work at Marine and Ports.As an MSO, his responsibilities lie chiefly with “the overall management and maintenance of the ferry service”. He’s helping to put together maintenance plans to ensure the fleet is prepared for the summer demand.The ferry service often grabs media attention when something goes wrong. Workers like Mr Bailey are the often unseen hands who make things right again.“We’re working hard to keep the service afloat,” he said.Deck Cadet Rodrico Bean, 25, started with Marine and Ports for work experience as a CedarBridge Academy student, and joined full-time in 2006.“I always knew what my goal was, so I got stuck right into it,” he said. Currently he works on the smaller ferries, but his aim is to reach the level of master mariner, entitling him to work on any ship — preferably a tanker.“Here in the Department, I believe I can eventually focus on rising to Director of Marine and Ports,” he added.According to Mr Thompson, Mr Bean has an offer to join a ship in Hong Kong next week.Explained Nicholas Maynard, a first class branch pilot at age 29: “I’ve had my pilot licence four years now, since 2008. As a branch pilot, your main job is piloting ships, mainly cargo vessels and container ships.“I started out when I was a summer student aged 14, for Marine and Ports in Dockyard. I worked in all different sections of the department every summer, until I got to pilot a boat one summer in St George’s. That’s how I learned about what a branch pilot does.”Over the last decade he’s sailed on board container ships for the Bermuda-based Bernhard Schulte Ship Management. He became officer of the watch in 2006, and achieved his chief officer licence in 2010.For Anthoni Lightbourne Jr, age 31, the sea has provided work for more than half his life.Starting out on Bermuda Island Cruises at the age of 12, he began work for Marine and Ports as a leading seaman after attending the Chapman School of Seamanship. He became a senior ferry pilot in 2002.As with Mr Maynard, Marine and Ports helped Mr Lightbourne further his career through Warsash Maritime Academy. He’s now a first class branch pilot, and has also travelled the world’s seas with Bernhard Schulte.Jamal Smith, 26, a junior engineer, told The Royal Gazette: “I’ve been working on boats all my life. “It started out on my father’s fishing boat, but I’ve been here at Marine and Ports for eight years now.“I started out as a mechanical fitter in Dockyard, and then I was a mechanic for the big ferries. Marine and Ports sent me away to South Tyneside in the UK to get my marine engineering degree, and right now they’ve got me working keeping the ferries running, organising paperwork and so on.“Right now I’m a fourth engineer, so I want to get the next higher degree. I’m aiming to get second engineer. That’s like an international licence. That ticket means I can go work on any ship.”Companies that are working with Marine and Ports include Bermuda Container Line, JR Shipping, Bernhard Schulte, Nordic Maritime Shipping, Belt Shipping, Front Line and Shell UK.