Cryptic crossword clue
With no hesitation sea captains will see Poles on ships

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MAINMASTS

I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Poles on ships" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case poles on ships = mainmasts.
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.

What does MAINMASTS mean?

MAINMASTS noun
  1. The chief, and tallest mast of a sailing ship that has more than one mast.

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