The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word TERRA NOVA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
E
R
R
A
N
O
V
A
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "25’s ship" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case 25’s ship = terra nova.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.