Could be amenable as a sailor (4,6)
I believe the answer is:
able seaman
'a sailor' is the definition.
(able seaman is a kind of sailor)
'could be amenable as' is the wordplay.
'could be' indicates anagramming the letters.
'amenable'+'as'='amenableas'
'amenableas' anagrammed gives 'ABLE SEAMAN'.
(Other definitions for able seaman that I've seen before include "Jack" , "Senior sailor" , "Sailor's rank" , "Tar" , "Salt" .)