The three of each suite always represented achievemnet or success to me I see this as a man standing tall and confident in acheivments ready to move on to his next challenge (the ships approaching) Since I see the wands as representing career, projects and inspirations it is in this direction I would see this applying and it would depend upon the surrounding cards

this person is watching how all the ships are placed,,
he is doing this to map out the best shipping zones for his boat, aka paths of trade.

he could also be a admiral,  planning out how he will deploy his ships.
as opposed to waiting for his ships to come in on christmas day, on christmas day.

i wonder why he has three wands behind him,
and he could be that he is a magican watching the sea for possible storms which he has to use his magic staff to correct or hinder in order for the ships to get to land safety.

now if he is a dark magican aka it is reversed,,
he is there to mess up the waters with his magic wands , or perhaps use the sailor superstition against them

as this is the emperess manifested in the spiritual/social world.

the person here should be looking to go with the flow of the sea as opposed to going agianst the flow to try to achieve his own desires.

as 3 becomes 12 by nine, 13 by ten, and 14 by 11.

you have the hint  of influence of hanged man , death, and temperance here , just hints.

the hanged man influences the three of wands to take a unconventional look at the sea, in ways the sailors would not be able to do so.
he is able to do this by the power of the hermit..
and note the figure is alone.

the death card influences this three of wands to look at change and let go of old ideas of how he was to going to be a super admiral of the sea.
he could be influencing the person to yes become a sailor ,, accept the risk of th sea, and follow your heart.
he is asking the three of wands to do this by seeing the sea as the flow of the wheel of fortune.

the three of wands is trying to figure out to balance his emotions as the sea is more then calm in some areas and has turmoil in some others.
only by learning to use his wands he feels, and his social consciousness and adhering to his spirtual morals.
the influence of temperance is telling him to use this wands in an uniform way (hint a traingle , or tripod)  to do what many didn'tknow was possible without a fourth wand.
he is able to do this by the power of justice and taking responsiblity for his own actions.
or by finding his innerstrenght if you are using the old system of 11 being strength.

to put it all together ,, would be based on a question.

"how should i handle this relationship "

now before I would add my insight into this card,,
i would have to ask the person..
what is your goal in this relationship,, to make it work,, or let it go ?

now if they told me to let it go,  or to make it work , the answer could vary.

if it was to let it go,,

i would look at this card and say the key here is to see all aspect of the possiblity..
to put it simply,, there are some things you are ignoring, denying, not looking at , when they are crucial elements to the situation.
you have to follow your heart here and assert you will on what you could possibly want to do.

if it was to make it work.

i would say ,, you got your resources but you are not using them..
what do you mean ?
i mean that you are not using all your possible things that you could be doing.
investing more time  like spending time together,,
or showing your heart by giving a gift that would mean a lot .
or holding back your tongue as you are too scarastic and hurt the feelings a lot.
to make it work,, you have to give a little bit,, and stop holding back some of your energies.