Sanction a ship for specialist (6)
I believe the answer is:
assent
'sanction' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a ship for specialist' is the wordplay.
'ship' becomes 'ss'.
'for' says to put letters next to each other.
'specialist' becomes 'ent' (abbreviation of ear nose and throat).
'a'+'ss'+'ent'='ASSENT'
(Other definitions for assent that I've seen before include "Permission" , "Agree - concede" , "Compliance, agreement" , "Acquiescence" , "Give consent" .)