Fix: Ships not loading in Sea of Thieves Game

Having ships in Sea of Thieves is a great accomplishment, but it can be incredibly frustrating when you encounter difficulties in loading them. This problem has been reported across all platforms where the SoT game is available. Sometimes, the issue arises after a game update. Occasionally, the rented ships function properly, while the Captaincy ship fails to load. If you’re unable to load your ships, it’s also possible that you won’t be able to purchase new ships.

How to Load Ships in Sea of Thieves

First, we will list down some workarounds to get the issue resolved. These workarounds will help if the issue is occurring due to a server-side issue. If that fails, we will list more intensive steps such as resetting the game or router.

1. Retry to Load the Ships with Different Workarounds

A malfunction in the communication between the device or game servers can lead to the ships not loading and retrying to load the ships with different workarounds can solve the problem.

Wait for the Loading of the Pirate Character

1. Launch the Sea of Thieves game and go to the Discover tab.
2. Look at the Pirate character on the left of What’s New, Pirate Emporium, and Play boxes.

   

3. Wait till the character loads (around 30 seconds) and then hit the Play button. See if the ships have loaded.

Spam Click My Ships

1. Launch Sea of Thieves and start spam-clicking on My Ships marque.

   

2. See if the Fleet screen is loaded. If so, you can open My Ships and play the game.

Switch Between the Menu Items

1. Launch Sea of Thieves and try to load ships.
2. When the ships’ loading fails, switch between different menu items and then retry to load the ships. See if it works.

Use a Non-captained Ship

1. Load a non-captained basic ship in the SoT game and open the invitations menu.

   

2. Back out of the menu and check if you can load My Ships.

Use Open Crew

1. Launch the Sea of Thieves game and go to the Crew menu.
2. Select Open Crew and join in.

   

3. Leave the Open Crew and check if the ships can be loaded.

Go to the Adventure Menu

1. Launch the SoT game and open its main menu.
2. Go to the Adventure menu and load a non-captained sloop (you can select any ship).

   

3. Quit to the Main menu and see if the ships are loading.

Use a Tutorial

1. Launch Sea of Thieves and go to Tutorials.
2. Play a tutorial and leave it. See if the ships’ problem is solved.

Open Maiden Voyage

1. Launch Sea of Thieves and go to Maiden Voyage.

   

2. Without clicking Set Sail, leave the session. Verify if your ships are loading correctly.

2. Relaunch the Sea of Thieves Game

A malfunction in the operational modules of the SoT game will not let it load the ships. Here, re-launching the game will do the trick.

1. Exit the current game and close the SoT game.
2. On Windows, end all the game-related processes in the Task Manager.

   

3. Launch the game and check if the ships are loading. You may try to re-launch the game twice or thrice.
4. If the issue persists on Windows, launch the game and when the ships cannot be loaded message is shown, press Alt + F4.
5. Launch the SoT game and confirm it the problem is solved.

3. Re-log into Sea of Thieves

Ships will not load on the Sea of Thieves if servers are failing to properly authorize the ships against your profile. To fix this, relogging into Sea of Thieves as this will refresh your profile on the server side.

1. Launch the Sea of Thieves game and on the game screen, click on Sign Out.

   

2. Close the game and wait for a minute.
3. Launch and log into the game. Verify if the loading problem is solved.

4. Restart the System and Router

If the game’s communication with its servers is hindered by malfunctioning OS modules or if the router fails to effectively transmit data between the device and servers, the game will not be able to load the ships.

To fix this, restart the system and router. This will put the affected modules in a refreshed state.

1. Close the Sea of Thieves game and power off your device or system.
2. Unplug its power cable from the source and switch off the router.

   

3. Unplug the router’s power cable from the source and wait for a minute.
4. Power on the router after plugging back the power cable and wait for a minute.
5. Power on the device or system after connecting its power cable.
6. Launch the Sea of Thieves game and confirm if the ships are loading correctly.
7. If not, log out of the game and repeat the above steps to restart both (router and device).
8. Launch the SoT game and log into it. See if the issue is resolved.

5. Update Sea of Thieves to the Latest Build

You will not be able to load ships in Sea of Thieves if the game client on your device or system is outdated. This can make the client incompatible with game servers. In such a case, updating the game to the latest build will solve the problem.

To do so on a Windows PC:

1. Launch the Microsoft Store and go to Downloads and Updates.
2. Click on Get Updates and if an update for Sea of Thieves is shown, click on Update.

   

3. Once updated, restart the system and see if the ships’ issue is resolved.

6. Check the Integrity of the SoT Game

Your ships in the Sea of Thieves game will fail to load if the core files of the game are no longer in a valid state. This might have occurred when the latest update could not properly patch the earlier game installation. This can be solved by checking the integrity of the game files of Sea of Thieves.

To do so on Steam:

1. Launch Steam and go to the Library.
2. Right-click on Sea of Thieves and select Properties.
3. Go to the Local Files tab and click on Verify Integrity of Local Game Files.

   

4. Wait till the process completes and once done, relaunch Steam.
5. Open Sea of Thieves and check if it is working correctly.

7. Relink Your Xbox Account

If you have linked your Xbox account with the SoT game but servers are failing to correctly authorize the linking, this will lead to the ships’ loading issue at hand. In such a case, relink your Xbox account to Sea of Thieves.

To do so on Windows:

1. Click Windows and search for Credential Manager.
2. Open it and switch to the Windows Credentials tab.

   

3. Locate entries with Xbl_Ticket in the name and remove the entry 1717113201 in the name.
4. Restart the system and launch Sea of Thieves. See if its ships are loading correctly.

8. Adjust the Date and Time of the Device or System

If there is a discrepancy in date and time between the servers and your device or system, it may lead to a failure in delivering the required ships to your device. This can be resolved by synchronizing the date and time settings of your device or system.

To do so on a Windows PC:

1. In the system’s tray, right-click on the clock and open Adjust Date and Time.

   

2. In the Additional Settings, click on Sync Now and disable Set Time Automatically.

   

3. Restart the system and launch Sea of Thieves. Verify if the ships loading problem is solved.

9. Reset the Router to the Factory Defaults

You will not be able to load ships on Sea of Thieves if the router’s firmware is damaged. Due to this, the router fails to correctly perform its operation. To solve this, reset the router to the factory defaults.

Before resetting, make sure to back up or note down the information that may be required when setting up the router after factory resetting it.

1. Use a pointy object (such as a paperclip) to press and hold the router’s reset button.

   

2. Wait till the router restarts and release the button.
3. Configure the router as per the OEM instructions and see if the ships are loading properly in the SoT game.

10. Reset or Reinstall Sea of Thieves

The ships not loading issue will occur if the core components of the SoT game are damaged. This might have occurred when an update to the game could not properly patch the previous installation. This can be solved by resetting or reinstalling Sea of Thieves.

For illustration, we will list down the steps for a Windows PC.

Reset Sea of Thieves

1. Right-click Windows and open Apps and Features.
2. Expand its Options and open Advanced Options.
3. Scroll down to the bottom and click on Reset.

   

    
4. Confirm to reset the SoT game and restart the system.
5. Launch Sea of Thieves and check if the problem is solved.

Reinstall Sea of Thieves

1. Right-click Windows and open Apps and Features.
2. Expand its Options and click on Uninstall.

   

3. Confirm to uninstall the game and follow the prompts on the screen to complete the process.
4. Restart the system and reinstall the game. Verify if it is working correctly.

If the issue persists, make sure the ports required by the SoT are correctly forwarded in the router settings. If this does not work, contacting SoT Support for further assistance will be the last option.