The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 6 plus 6 plus 2 plus 3 letter word WORSE THINGS HAPPEN AT SEA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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More clues leading to the result WORSE THINGS HAPPEN AT SEA
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "It’s not as bad as 16" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it’s not as bad as 16 = worse things happen at sea.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.