Introduction
There are lots of different types of ships in Black Desert Online and each has a different tier. Tier 1 or higher ships can have ship skills and also have their own UI and uses other than just transportation. Tier 0 ships will also be destroyed when they run out of durability, whilst Tier 1 and higher ships can be repaired at a Wharf Manager.
Ships allow the player to travel through the rivers and oceans of BDO independently, without the need of a NPC ferry. Acquiring these ships can be done two ways, buying them off the auction house or crafting. As the ships get larger, more materials and effort are required to construct them.
Pre-requisites for this guide!
Please have a look at the guide on workers & purchasing property if you have not done so. This guide will not cover how to create and sustain workers!
List of Ships
Raft [Tier 0]:
The raft is a very basic ship which has a very low durability and does not last very long. It is a tier 1 ship and only used for short transportation.
Rowboat [Tier 0]:
The rowboat is a very basic ship which has a very low durability and does not last very long. It is a tier 1 ship and only used for short transportation.
Fishing Boat [Tier 0]:
The fishing boat is a very basic ship which has a very low durability and does not last very long. It is a tier 1 ship and only used for short transportation.
Ferry [Tier 0]:
The ferry is a very basic ship which has a very low durability and does not last very long. It is a tier 1 ship and only used for short transportation.
Cog [Tier 1]:
The Cog ship is a newer “fishing boat” and can be crafted at the shipyard in Port Epheria (Shipyard 3-5, 2F). You are also rewarded with a free Cog ship when you complete the main sailing quest. The ship has the Breezy Sail skill by default but CANNOT be repaired as well as having low HP. The ship does not have any cabins and therefore cannot hold any crew members.
Bartali Sailboat [Tier 1]:
The Bartali Sailboat is a cheap ship that can be bought in Velia for 10 million silver. The ship is similar to the Old Bartali Sailboat but CAN be repaired. You can also purchase equipment for this ship from Philaberto Falasi at Port Epheria and enhance them like other ship equipment. This ship CANNOT use ship skills.
Epheria Sailboat [Tier 1]/Epheria Caravel [Tier 2]:
Epheria Frigate [ Tier 1]/Epheria Galleass [Tier 2]:
Carrack [Tier 3]:
![[âIMG]](https://s1.pearlcdn.com/DEV/Upload/News/3b01ff3b07520190828010042413.jpg)
Guild Galley [Tier 1]:
Information for new players
Creating a Raft
- Start in Velia Town and look for this house.
- If you left click on the house you should see this interface.
- Right click on the Shipyard and select re-purpose or buy. This will cost you 5,000 silver and some contribution points (CP)
- After purchase, you have to wait 2 hours for the building to convert.
- Once the building has finished converting you now need to gather the resources to craft the ship.
- After you have gotten all the materials needed to craft the ship you have to select what ship you want to build.
- Blue: Choose ship
- Red: Select workers to start assembling
- Yellow: What needs to be assembled
- Pink: Time taken for selected assembly
- You can have more than one worker assembling the ship.
Warning
Cancelling ship construction will reverse all progress and delete used materials.
How to get Logs
- Left click the magnifying glass next to your mini-map,
- Click on the hoe icon, which should bring you to the tools merchant in Velia.
- Then buy a “Blunt Axe” from her.
- Equip your axe and go to any tree outside Velia like this one.
- Press “R” to collect.
- “logs” should be a by-product of the tree you cut.
Blackstone Powder
How to get Rough Stone
- First you need to find rough stone, go to the materials vendor again and buy a “Shabby Pickaxe”.
- Look for rocks you can mine, they are scattered everywhere on the terrain. Walk up to them with the pickaxe equipped.
- If you collect these rocks you can get rough stone.
How to get a Refinery
- Look for this building in Velia and then buy the refinery just like how you bought the Shipyard.
- After the refinery is bought, left click on “Production Management”.
- You should see a new interface looking like this.
- You need 2 rough stone per “Blackstone Powder”. This should take about 30 – 10 minutes depending how fast your worker works
- If you do not know how to get workers have a read of the guide on workers.
Putting it together You now should have all you need to make the Raft. Place your materials in the warehouse and start building on your ship. The warehouse can be found at the dock in Velia. 
Other Ships
Higher tier Shipyards are needed if you want to create ships bigger than a Raft of a Boat. For an example on Iliya Island there is a tier 2 shipyard where you can make Fishing Boats. 
How to Register a Ship
After you have completed assembly, you should get a Ship Registration item in your warehouse. Put that in your inventory and head to the harbour master. Talk to him and register your ship! 
Understanding Ships
All ships have health and durability. They are shown on the bottom as the red and yellow bar. There is no way to repair your ships at the moment and when it runs out of durability your ship is destroyed. 
NPC Ferries
Ferry’s come and stop every 10 minutes or so at the wharf in Velia town. They transport you Iliya Island and you can jump off at any time. The ferry passes many islands that are great for fishing and exploring. But refrain from jumping off the ferry because without a dock, it is extremely hard to catch the ferry again once it comes back around. 
Ship Upgrades
There is also a tier 3 ship parts workshop in Hidel where you can craft things that upgrade your ship. Upgrades are ship specific so be sure to check what ship it is compatible with. Ships bows will increase the speed of the ship, decorations increase the armor, and storage increases the maximum trade weight it can carry. 
Useful Crafting Information
Planks can be made from chopping wood. You need planks for the rowboat. To create planks you have to process the logs by pressing the “L” key by default and select the wood chopping option. This will allow you to select what type of logs you want to chop up into planks. Iron and copper can be found at the cave north west of Velia. 
There should be deposits of copper and iron in that seaside cave. To process them into melts you have heat them up using the “L” process menu. If you are familiar with workers and nodes you can get NPC’s to do work for you. Ash tree’s can be found south of Veila. 
This guide was originally written by Ranjiko and modified by the BDFoundry Team on 12th June 2020. Full credit goes to him for this amazing guide. If you are interested in writing guides to be featured on our website, send an email to [email protected]
