his hat DOES more closely resemble a FIRE captain's hat than a SEA captain's hat (see image below).
Maybe they only had a fire captain's hat for Keeshan to wear, but did not have the typical anchor symbol found on many sea captain's hats to use on it and thereby transform it into a true captain's hat. So, they left the steel Maltese cross on it and hoped no one would know the difference.
I don't remember any references made to fire or firemen on the show or any props that were suggestive of this profession either.
technoguy
