Students have been given the opportunity to explore the Island's rich maritime past thanks to an internship programme sponsored by the Bermuda Maritime Museum.

Six students have been taken on for the Museum's third annual intern programme, which ends next week.

Karen-Ann Fox, 15, Jonathan Bean, 15, Richard Butterfield, 16, Kenneth Sousa, 15, Tamika Olden, 15, and Geneko Gilbert, 18, have spent the past four weeks at the Maritime Museum learning about and cataloguing the collections.

"Some interns here are usually interested in a career in the historical field, while others are being introduced for the first time,'' said Museum Registrar Verne me Fullerton.

Students have also assisted museum staff with photography, research projects and conservation work.

Amongst their many projects, the interns assisted in research of vessels which visited Bermuda during the late 19th and early 20th Century and aided preparations for the "Shipwrecked!'' summer camp held at Dockyard this week.

An first of two in-depth interviews with the assistant captain of the Horizon was also conducted to learn about the influence of technology on navigation at sea. The six were later given a comprehensive tour of the ship which visits Dockyard weekly.

According to Ms Fullerton, the experience aboard the ship will probably result in an article by the interns for the winter issue of Maritimes , the official newsletter of the Museum.

"This year has definitely been a success,'' she said. "History is very much an academic area and challenging for students. They have demonstrated themselves very well.'' The students have also enjoyed the work.

"I'm definitely going to pursue this because of what I've worked on this summer,'' said Kenneth Sousa.

The Maritime Museum now plans to cooperate with local secondary schools in a bid to spark interest in history amongst a greater sector Bermuda's youth.

Students of or above 15 years of age interested in becoming an intern at the Museum next year should contact either Ms Fullerton or curator Lynn Thorne on 234-1333 by April of next year. Youngsters need a basic understanding of historical research and must demonstrate self-discipline and self-motivation.

Interns should also have basic library and computer knowledge.