Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown Guide | How to Unlock Ships

Here’s a guide on how to unlock Ships in Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown DLC.

Game Guide by Ragib Rawnak on Oct 30, 2026

Here's how to unlock ships, complete prerequisites, and find the first harbor merchant. Before you can sail anywhere, you must work through your settlement and faction tasks. The ship mechanic will not trigger until your main outpost has been properly developed.

Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown Unlock the Ship Build Ship

Upgrade Howling Hill Camp

First, focus on your base. You need to upgrade Howling Hill Camp to move the storyline along. This upgrade is tied directly to the Gathered Will questline, which sits inside the Greymane faction storyline under Grounds of the Sunrise.

Keep progressing through these base upgrades until Gathered Will is fully completed. Once that wraps up, the game opens the door to the expansion's maritime content.

How to Unlock the Ship Mechanic

With Howling Hill Camp upgraded and the prerequisite quests cleared, you can start the expansion questline itself in Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown DLC.

Complete A Call from Beyond the Horizon

Open your menu and check the Charting the Unknown category under your Faction Quests. Select the quest named A Call from Beyond the Horizon.

This quest acts as your starting point for setting up your naval operations. Make sure you stock up on Camp Funds before you head out, as you will need currency to get your operations running and purchase your initial vessel.

Follow the quest markers to complete the objective and officially open up ship access in Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown DLC

Finding Ship Vendor

Once you clear A Call from Beyond the Horizon, the game directs you to your first maritime merchant.

Head over to the settlement of Vellua, located inside the Grace Estate region, and look for an NPC named Hopkins in Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown DLC.

This merchant handles every aspect of your fleet management. You can buy your initial watercraft directly from him, pay him to patch up damaged hulls after rough encounters at sea, or have him retrieve vessels that were destroyed or abandoned far out in the water.

In Charting the Unknown, you will unlock more shipwrights and harbor vendors in ports around Pywel as you go, but at first, your main contact is Hopkins.

Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown Finding Ship Vendor Hopkins

FAQ

Q. When can I unlock ships in Crimson Desert?

A. Ships can be unlocked by upgrading Howling Hill Camp during the Gathered Will questline (Greymane faction quest: Grounds of the Sunrise) and completing the Charting the Unknown quest called A Call from Beyond the Horizon.