How to Unstuck Your Ship in Sea of Thieves

Attempt to pull into land enough times in Sea of Thieves and sooner or later you’re going to get your ship stuck, wedged, or straight up Austin-Powers’d on a weird angle. In moments like these, you’re going to need to know how to get your ship unstuck, going in reverse, pulled to the side, and back into open waters.

How to unstuck your ship

If you find your ship stuck in the side of a pier or utterly wedged between two pieces of land, there is a way you can get it unstuck and back out in deeper water. While there are is no “go in reverse” button, there is a way you can get your ship moving backwards if it’s stuck.

Whenever your ship gets stuck in Sea of Thieves, raise the sails and anchor and straighten the wheel. It should begin to float backwards.

The first thing you’re going to want to do is raise the sails to the top, that means galleons will need to raise all three, a brigantine should raise both sails, and a sloop will need to raise their solitary sail. With the sails raised, bring the anchor up and straighten the wheel at the helm. On a galleon, the wheel spins twice in each direction, on a brigantine it will spin one and a half times, and on the sloop it spins once in either direction. Once the wheel is completely straight your ship will start floating backwards.

Keep the ship floating backwards until it’s unstuck from whatever it was rammed into. Depending on how close the rear of the ship is to land or something else, you may need to jump on the wheel and spin it to pivot the ship. The idea is to slowly move the ship backwards, turning it so the bowsprit points away from land or rocks and out to open sea.

Another trick is to use the harpoons. These new additions were added with the Anniversary Update and can be found at the bow of every ship. The harpoons can be used to pull the ship on sharp angles. This is useful if you need a bit more force or some lateral movement.

Sometimes when a ship becomes stuck for too long, it disappears or sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and on the rare occasion even blasts off into the sky. This can spell disaster, especially if you have a hull full of rewards from clearing a skeleton fort, which is why knowing how to unstuck your ship is important. Now that you’re back on open waters, check out our Sea of Thieves guide for more information to help you be the best pirate in the game!