Prime Minister's Excellent Grasp of Naval Metaphor

I think it is nice to know that the Prime Minister has a good grasp of nautical metaphor as shown by this quote for the Telegraph web site:

“I think it is important that you try to go on holiday, but if you need to come back, you drop everything,” he said. “The captain of the ship should be at the helm.”

If the Captain is at the helm who the hell is in command? I think he probably means that the captain should be on the bridge, but what would I know?

To quote Wikipedia:

"In the merchant marine, the person at the helm is usually an able seaman, particularly during ship arrivals, departures, and while maneuvering in restricted waters or other conditions requiring precise steering. An ordinary seaman is commonly restricted to steering in open waters. Moreover, military ships may have a seaman or quartermaster at the helm."

Or perhaps he has a better grasp of the metaphor involved than I give him credit for and the British "Ship of State" has shrunk to a mere "Boat of State" where we may expect the captain to take the helm?  ...or he may have a classical education and be thinking of an ancient Greek warship where I am informed that the captain did take the steering oar.

Either way he seems eminently qualified to be the "Ruler of the Queen's Navy"