Evaluate a couple of ships touring East (6)
I believe the answer is:
assess
'evaluate' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'a couple of ships touring east' is the wordplay.
'couple of ships' becomes 'SS SS' (SS can mean a steamship).
'touring' means one lot of letters goes inside another (tour can mean to go around).
'east' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'ssss' going around 'e' is 'ssess'.
'a'+'ssess'='ASSESS'
(Other definitions for assess that I've seen before include "'Judge, estimate (6)'" , "Judge the worth of something" , "Remedy for all ills" , "Fix the amount of tax" , "Evaluate (quality)" .)