A male aboard pilot ship (7)
I believe the answer is:
steamer
'ship' is the definition.
(steamer is a kind of ship)
'a male aboard pilot' is the wordplay.
'a male' becomes 'am' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'aboard' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'pilot' becomes 'steer' (I've seen this before).
'am' placed into 'steer' is 'STEAMER'.
(Other definitions for steamer that I've seen before include "found in the kitchen" , "Vessel housing galley" , "Boat; type of saucepan" , "put over cooker" , "Vessel at sea or in kitchen" .)