Southern explorer in charge of vessels finally going north — cutters (8)
I believe the answer is:
scissors
'cutters' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'southern explorer in charge of vessels finally going north' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'explorer' becomes 'ross' (19th-century explorer John Ross).
'in charge of' becomes 'ic'.
'finally' suggests the final letters.
'going north' says the letters should be written in reverse.
The final letter of 'vessels' is 's'.
's'+'ross'+'ic'+'s'='srossics'
'srossics' written backwards gives 'SCISSORS'.
(Other definitions for scissors that I've seen before include "Cutting instrument made of two joined blades with handles" , "lock" , "Cutting tool" , "Paper/cloth cutters" , "Cutting device with two long blades" .)