Moor vessel, checking bows essentially in order (10)
I believe the answer is:
fellowship
'order' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'moor vessel' is the wordplay.
'moor' becomes 'fellow' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'vessel' becomes 'ship' (ship is a kind of vessel).
'fellow'+'ship'='FELLOWSHIP'
'checking bows essentially in' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fellowship that I've seen before include "Academic honour" , "camaraderie" , "Association" , "Friendliness; guild" , "club" .)