The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 plus 4 letter word CONTAINER SHIP
C
O
N
T
A
I
N
E
R
S
H
I
P
More clues leading to the result CONTAINER SHIP
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Sailing vessel" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case sailing vessel = container ship.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.