At the age of 13 Rodrico Bean was already eyeing a career on the ocean.

In the last decade he has risen through the ranks while his studies have taken him across the globe to Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Just last month all that hard work was rewarded when he received his Officer of the Watch certificate that allows him to work as an officer on any ship of any size.

But Mr Bean has no intentions of stopping there. As he continues to work on the pilot boat for the Department of Marine and Ports he has applied to undertake a branch pilot apprenticeship.

“It all started when I was 13,” Mr Bean said. “My father was a commercial fisherman and he wanted to make sure I pursued something a little different.

“We talked about what I was going to do and I decided then that I wanted to become a pilot. It’s a long journey and you work your way up the ladder, but it is rewarding too.”

Mr Bean got his pilot’s licence in 2007 after completing a training course in Barbados.

The 29-year-old started his Officer of the Watch training in Warsash Maritime Academy in England in September 2009.

He took his final one-hour oral exam last month in Southampton, England and said he was “relieved and happy” to be told he had passed.

“A lot of work went into that exam,” he added. “But being told I had passed was a great feeling.

“I tried to remain calm and humble, but it was a relief to achieve what I had been working towards for such a long time.

“Now I am back in Bermuda working on the pilot boats, but there is still more I hope to do.

“I have applied for a branch pilot apprenticeship to get to the next level and am hoping to hear back about that soon.”