Preparation for viewers to look at ship (8)
I believe the answer is:
eyeliner
'preparation for viewers' is the definition.
(preparation applied to eyes or 'viewers')
'look at ship' is the wordplay.
'look' becomes 'eye' (eyeing is a kind of looking).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'ship' becomes 'liner' (liner is a kind of ship).
'eye'+'liner'='EYELINER'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for eyeliner that I've seen before include "Makeup for the peepers" , "highlight for look-out" , "kind of cosmetic" , "Make-up item" , "Cosmetic pencil" .)