Crossword Genius

Order to stop at sea a container with sulphur as cargo? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

avast

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'order to stop at sea' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'a container with sulphur as cargo?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'sulphur' could be 's' (synonyms) and 's' is found within the answer.
'container' could be 'vat' (vat is a kind of container) and 'vat' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for avast that I've seen before include "Stop! (naut.)" , "Stop at sea" , "Stop, nautically speaking" , "order for tar" , "Hold fast! (naut.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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