if you are among the lucky ones with low hsag quantity in iu/ml (hbe also negative and hbvdna unegative, on hbe positive hbsag is very high/hbvdna usually positive) you might get hbsag negative by interferon or alinia and get back to your job
unfortunately until hbsag is positive in the blood hbv is highly contagious especially when in close contact in a ship
Sad to hear about your employer. People can be very ignorant.
There is no quick answer to your question. You can read
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Hepatitis/HepB-Introduction--Welcome-Page/show/34?cid=153, to start with.