Trade Ship Guide - Port Trading & Crystal Clear
The weekly trade ship at the Main Pier: how Crystal Clear and three Lenses unlock the Trademaster's shop, and what the Port crew sells.
Published September 22, 2026 · Last updated September 24, 2026
Quick Answer: What Is the Trade Ship?
The trade ship is the Port Area's import economy: once a week, a new trade ship docks at the Main Pier, and its wares are sold through the Trademaster's shop. The whole system opens with one side quest — Crystal Clear, handed in at the Main Pier — and from then on the pier becomes a weekly stop on your trading route. Stock arrives with the ship, so what the Trademaster has on offer changes from visit to visit.
Unlocking the Port Trade: Crystal Clear
Crystal Clear is a one-step side quest from the Trademaster, the trade manager of the port who stands at the Main Pier. The objective is plain: bring the optic glass to the Manager at the Main Pier. Handing over three Lenses completes the quest, unlocks the Trade with the Trademaster shop, and puts the weekly ship on the schedule. It only opens after the main story reaches the Port — the quest Docked and Found is the documented prerequisite.
| Step | What To Do | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Progress the main story through Docked and Found | Port Area |
| 2 | Unlock the Lenses technology (Smithing track) | Tech tree |
| 3 | Craft 3 Lenses — 3 Sand + 2 Coal each — at the Smithy: Press | Smithy |
| 4 | Accept Crystal Clear from the Trademaster | Main Pier |
| 5 | Hand over the 3 Lenses | Main Pier |
| 6 | Shop unlocked — a new trade ship arrives weekly | Main Pier |
Crafting the Lenses
Each Lens takes 3 Sand and 2 Coal, crafted on the Smithy: Press station after the Lenses technology is unlocked — the same tech cluster your Building mastery pushes through around mastery 7. Three Lenses for the quest means a one-time bill of 9 Sand and 6 Coal, which is a deliberate early checkpoint: cheap enough to rush, visible enough to teach you the Press. Note that Lenses are also the Laboratory II building material, so if you are crafting both in the same week the sand pits get busy.
The Port Crew
Two named characters anchor the Port trade. The Trademaster manages the Town's trade from the Main Pier, sells the arriving ship's stock, and starts the Crystal Clear quest. The Captain is a retired sea captain whose ship sank — he holds court at the Dockside Club, trading his sea stories for drinks early on and for Faith later in your relationship. The same stretch of waterfront also hosts Gunter the Astrologer, Linda who owns the Dockside Club, and Davy the Dagger leading the looters, so a Port round trip touches half your reputation map in one walk.
| Character | Role | Where to Find |
|---|---|---|
| The Trademaster | Trade manager of the port; Crystal Clear giver; sells ship stock | Main Pier |
| The Captain | Retired sea captain; stories for drinks, later Faith | Dockside Club |
Trade Ship vs Order Boards
The weekly ship is a third lane next to the two order boards. Trader and Looter orders are recurring contracts that consume your production; the ship is a rotating import shelf that sells to you. The practical split: fill orders to turn stock into money on production days, and check the pier on your Port rounds to catch exotic goods the village merchants never carry — the Trademaster's own words are that unique and exotic items come from afar, and the bay only lets the big ships in once the lighthouses have their lenses.
- Order boards: recurring contracts — your goods flow out, money flows in.
- Trade ship: weekly rotating stock — exotic imports flow in, your money flows out.
- Both live in the Port Area's walking distance from the Dockside Club NPCs.