Like a seabird following the ship (6)
I believe the answer is:
astern
'like a seabird following the ship' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'like a seabird following the' is the wordplay.
'like' becomes 'as'.
'a seabird' becomes 'ern' (I've seen this in another clue).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'ern' put after 't' is 'tern'.
'as'+'tern'='ASTERN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for astern that I've seen before include "Towards the rear of a ship" , "Behind at sea" , "The wake is" , "Towards the rear of boat" , "Towards rear of a vessel" .)